An Investigation of Disturbed Minds
by PanicButton
Summary: ReidHotchOMC - Follow up from Authenticator. Reid is being cared for by Hotch and OMC has vanished. Not a very good summary, but please R&R. Whump no fluff. NO JJ! Slight slashy undertones.
1. Chapter 1

An Investigation of Disturbed Minds 

_I don't believe in fate or destiny. I believe in various degrees of hatred, paranoia, and abandonment. However much of that gets heaped upon you doesn't matter - it's only a matter of how much you can take and what it does to you: - __Henry Rollins _

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

More scans. They needed to take him for more scans and an MRI. Hotch stood by nervously as they detached the drips from Spencer's arm and got him ready. Aaron could see another tear creeping out of Reid's eye and he lent forwards and brushed it away with his thumb.

"I will be here when you get back. I'm not going anywhere." Hotch stood with his hands stuffed in the pocket in the front of his hoodie and wanted to scream. If he hadn't gone in that museum half cocked they wouldn't have taken him too and this wouldn't have happened. Hotch had an overwhelming feeling of guilt at what he felt he had let happen to Spencer. All he ever wanted to do was protect him and now this. Once again he was at a damned hospital waiting to see if Reid would recover.

Hotch looked at his watch. Floyd had been gone a long time – almost three hours had passed by. He thought he would have been back before now. Aaron looked around for a phone. He had lost his cell phone back at the museum. The girl with the un-naturally white smile and startlingly straight teeth smiled up at him when he asked at reception if he could use the phone. "Certainly sir." And with nails which where impossibly long she pushed the telephone over to Aaron.

He dialled the apartment. It rang three times _'Sorry I am unable to take your call right now. Please leave a message after the tone.' _"Floyd if you are there pick up." He waited until the little click to tell him the message had stopped recording and replaced the receiver.

………………………….

Spencer could feel movement. A twisting sensation as he was moved away from where he had been. Again he tried to scream and call out for help. Where was Aaron? Where was Floyd? Why had they abandoned him? He could feel his heat pounding and his breaths becoming shallow and fast. Spencer didn't want these people to know he was panicking. _'Calm Spencer calm. They can't hurt you if you stay calm. Remember who you are. What you were, what you are capable of still being.'_

He felt movement stop and someone touching his arms and putting something over his nose and mouth. Slowly his breathing deepened. He felt drugged again. Just as he was beginning to awaken they drugged him. In a half dream state he felt he was being lifted and laid on a table. He felt restraints being pulled tightly around him and hushed conspiratorial voices from somewhere in the distance. The mask was removed from his face and someone pushed his hair back off his forehead. More mutterings. A touching of hands and he was moving backwards into what can only be described as hell.

………………………..

Floyd woke up laying on his front. He looked to the side and saw white walls. He tried to sit up, and it was then that he realised he was in a straight jacket again. Always the bleeding straightjacket. "bastards." He muttered. Whoever had him knew him. Knew he couldn't get out of this bloody contraption. Yet.

He sat up and tested the buckles but wasn't in the slightest bit surprised that he had been restrained as tightly as he could be. He tried to think. Spence had told him once how to get out of these things.

Spence. What was happening to Spencer? Flanders stood up and walked to the door. "Who the hell are you? Show yourselves you sons of bitches!" His shouts and threats fell on deaf ears. He had been held like this before and got away, so initial panic over he sat in the middle of the room and waited. Floyd wanted to try to contact Reid but something was wrong again. Something always going wrong. He pulled his knees up close and sat looking at the door. _'First man through is dead.'_

After what felt like an eternity he heard someone unlocking the door. He moved quickly, got to his feet and stood next to the door with his back to the wall. His intention was to rip out the throat of the first man through the door and he gave it a jolly good go too, but the volts of electricity which flowed from the taser and into his body dropped him immediately to his knees. Four other big guys followed the first through the door.

"Be careful with him. He is no use to us if he is dead." A tall middle aged skinny guy standing back said.

Still on his knees but quickly regaining his ability to move Floyd scuttled back out of ranger of the guy with the taser.

"On your feet Mr Franks and try to bite someone again and I will muzzle you."

Floyd was kneeling now in the corner of the room watching the men standing with clubs tasers and a muzzle. The skinny chap who seemed to be in charge was holding a small auto- injector in his hand and a smile on his face. He gauged where everyone was and how long it would take to kill and devour parts of them then looked down. No way would he comply with these people.

The five moved as one. They stepped forwards weapons ready. Then they pounced. Floyd was expecting to be tasered again but instead felt the club around the side of his head and at the same time a club in the face. He was pushed back onto the floor and not having the use of his hands prevented him from fighting back in the manner he was used to. The strapped the muzzle to his face and pulled him to his feet.

"Thank you gentlemen. Now if you will just hold him still while I give him his medication." And a grin from a face with too many yellow teeth.

Flanders let the men hold him and take his weight, and pushed back kicking at the man with the needle. Floyd was never one to say 'no' to drugs, but he did like to know what they were. Because of his continued struggle against them the guards – for want of a better word - were asked to make Floyd stop moving and so they pulled him down and pushed him onto his front. Floyd immediately tried to get back up onto his knees but the kick and then the foot pressing down on the back of his neck stopped him.

"Oh do stop struggling Mr Franks. We will do this to you if you like it or not. Just stay still or accept the consequences. One which you can lay and enjoy so you can experience what you do to others or you can try to scream and shout and act like a fool. Decision is up to you. Or of course you can stop fighting this now and let me give you your medication."

Floyd could feel the guys behind him sliding his sweat pants down.

"Screw you!" Floyd shouted. At least this was just something to stop him biting and not stopping him talking.

"No Mr Franks. You are the one who is going to be screwed unless you shut your dirty mouth and keep still"

……………………….

He screamed inside his mind as the slid him into the machine. It banged and rattled and made noises in his ears. It made him drool and shake and finally he was pulled out again. Hands again touching him and moving over his body and holding his hand and putting fingers on his face. He felt he was being lifted again and put back on the 'bed' he had been on previously and was now moved along again.

Voices, continual voices and touching. Why did they have to keep touching him? Why couldn't they just leave him alone?

Hotch stood and watched, white faced with the worry. Floyd still hadn't come back and it was nearly five hours now. He stood looking down at Spencer, wondering what was going on in that genius brain on his. He could see behind his eye lids his eyes flickering from side to side. A nurse came in the room and gave Aaron a quizzical look. Were these two men together? Like as in 'together'? or just 'friends with benefits.'? She couldn't figure it out. The guy on the bed with his long ratty hair pushed back behind his ears only looked about twelve, yet it said on the records here that he was a lot older than that. A pretty man, she thought as she looked over at the tall dark haired man watching her every move.

"I need to change him sir." And she whipped the curtain around the bed.

Aaron quickly pulled the curtain back again. "If you don't mind, I think he would be more comfortable if I did that for him."

Again that little look. "If you say so." She placed a pair of navy pyjama bottoms on the bed and slapped latex gloves into his hands. "You might need this."

Hotch stood by the bed and heard the sound to of the curtain being pulled again for their privacy. He looked down at Spencer and with a sigh slowly and carefully pulled back the covers.

It didn't take long to quickly change his clothing. It was soaked in sweat. He covered him over again and looked at his face. A quick kiss on the end of his nose and he pulled back the curtains to see the nurse standing here with her arms folded. She raised an eyebrow at him and spoke. "The doctor will be here soon." She turned and walked away indicting a bin to place the laundry in.

Aaron walked back to Spencer and sat on the chair next to his bed. He placed a comforting hand over Spencer's and spoke calming soft words to him.

"I will get a book and read to you. I know you love people reading to you." He held the hand tighter. "I will get something sent in." Aaron didn't think he would be able to leave Spencer alone long enough to get a book. He looked at his watch again and a small bubble of fear for Floyd began to form. He couldn't think of any reason why he wouldn't have come back, unless he had just abandoned Spencer again. That wouldn't be the first time. He decided to keep Flanders' name out of the little one sided chats he was having with Spencer right now.

A polite cough behind Aaron caused him to turn and look up at Spencer's doctor.

"I am going to take Dr Reid off the medication we are using to keep him asleep and see how it goes. I am unable to predict how much damage has been caused by the blows the Doctor took to his head. It is I am afraid a matter of keeping fingers crossed. Initial quick results back do not show bleeding in the brain, which is what we were worried about, but that doesn't mean there is none."

Aaron nodded and looked back at the sleeping face. _'Please wake up and be well Spencer.'_

It was slow, but over the course of a few hours life seemed to be returning to Reid's body. He felt movement in his fingers, he saw his legs jerk a few times and when Aaron pulled back the covers he watched with a smile as Spencer started to curl and straighten his toes.

Finally he opened his big hazel eyes and the sight of them made Hotch's tummy turn with happiness. They eyes flicked from side to side not seeming to see or focus for a short while then they fixed on Aaron.

Hotch smiled at him. "Hey you."

………………………

Reid was finally allowed to wake up. He tried so hard to keep still and not to let them know he was awake but finally he opened his eyes and looked up at the dark shadow above him. He quickly glanced around, catching someone out of the corner of his eye. A deep breath and he let his eyes look at who it was.

He opened his mouth and screamed.

………………………

Somewhere deep underground the lab rat was still struggling and shouting abuse. His struggles became weaker and finally they stopped as he felt the needle piercing the side of his neck and he was sucked down into darkness.

* * *

_Animal studies can neither prove or guarantee the safety of any drug. They are not a substitute for testing in humans: -J Jennings, Vice President Science & Technology of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association.

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_


	2. Chapter 2 Missing Body and Minds

Missing Body and Minds.

_Mort__: - Oh, I'm already confused, Pilgrim. Plenty confused. So don't talk to me about confusion._

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

When Flanders opened his eyes he was looking up at a very brightly lit ceiling. He had been relieved of the straight jacket and was strapped securely with multiple straps around his arms legs and torso. His head was in some kind of brace.

He pulled at the restraints, but again they had been forewarned of his uncanny ability to get out of normal cuffs. He could see multiple camera's set up at different angles and now he could see the skinny guy with the yellow teeth.

"Nice that you could join us for this bit Mr Franks." And that vile smile.

"Go to hell."

"Well you should know all about that shouldn't you? I have been told of your amazing healing powers. In all honesty I don't believe it. I have also been told that are excessively violent and have no empathy. One of these I can cure. The other I cannot so let's get started shall we?"

It was now that the person standing behind the bench he was strapped to grabbed his face and pulled an upper eyelid open and at the same time he saw the long thin metal spike.

"You son of a bitch!" Flanders wanted to bite and gouge and kick as he felt the long spike being slid over the top of his eyeball. Floyd lay still and silent. He knew full well what was going to happen next and trying to move would just make it worse. He stared ahead grinding his teeth waiting. He felt the pressure on the thin bone at the back of his eye socket and he could feel the gentle back and forth movement.

"Aren't you meant to sedate your experiments?" A low hissing voice of someone trying to maintain some semblance of control.

"You really don't know when to shut up do you Mr Franks?"

And he felt the bone crack and the lights dimmed as the blade slid gently into his recently healed brain.

…………………………..

"Reid! Spencer, it's only me." Aaron jumped up from his chair and stood by the bed. Reid looked back at Hotch with huge eyes. "It's me Reid. It's ok. You are in the hospital." But the eyes looking at Hotch showed no recognition. "Spence?"

Reid just stared back in silence. Hotch picked up a damp cloth and wiped it over Reid's brow and as it touched his skin Reid flew into a frenzied attack on Hotch. He grabbed his hair with one hand and tried to gouge this eyes with the fingers on his right hand. Aaron pulled back quickly nearly pulling Reid onto the floor as he ripped hair out of Aaron's scalp and dug his nails into the skin on the side of his face.

Hotch watched as this screaming foaming at the mouth stranger was pulled back onto his bed and stuck with needles. Once the struggling had stopped they pulled up the cot sides on the bed and strapped his hands down. In case. Because you never know. We don't want him hurting himself.

Aaron stood with a small trickle of blood coming from a wound near his eye. "He didn't know who I was." He said quietly to himself. The doctor turned.

"Don't worry. It will all come back to him. Give him time. I advise you go home and rest for a few hours. Then come back refreshed." Hotch nodded slowly. He wanted to go and check up to see what the hell Floyd was doing.

"I don't like leaving him. I want to be here when he wakes again. He needs his friends around him." Aaron stood with his hands hanging limply at his sides.

"Understandable you would feel that way, but he will be sleeping for quite a few hours. Go home and refresh yourself. We will look after Dr Reid."

…………………….

Hotch didn't go home. That would have meant yet again a big empty house with the echoes of the past. He went instead to Reid and Floyd's place. He would then be able to see why Floyd hadn't come back. The elevator was down and the door open. Something wasn't right. Hotch looked on the floor for blood. He looked on the walls for spray…he saw nothing. He pulled a tissue out of his pocket and used it to press the 'up' button. The car rattled and clanged up to the home level and Aaron pulled open the door and stepped out.

He just stood and looked around for a minute taking everything in. "Floyd?" But he knew he wouldn't get an answer. The bedroom and bathroom doors were closed. He walked along the edge of the room – a habit he had gotten into since Floyd's cleaning oddness started. Bathroom door first. He pressed his fingers against the door and he listened carefully. The sound of running water. He took a risk. If it was Floyd in the shower he wouldn't mind Hotch walking in on him. If it wasn't….Well Hotch decided to let things happen before he decided. He twisted the door handle and pushed the door open. He was expecting a room full of steam, but there was none and on closer inspection the room proved to be empty. Hotch frowned and walked over to the shower. It was running cold and it seemed to have been for a while. He ran fingers through his hair thinking and then left the room and approached the bedroom. Again fingers carefully on the door and again nothing. He opened the door and looked around.

The floor was smeared with blood. "Floyd what the hell have you done now?" Hotch threw the light switch so he could see more carefully and again that frown across his brow. He crouched down and moved a finger towards the mess. Big blood clots, dark and sticky – "Floyd – what in hells name happened here?"

Aaron stood back and tried to assess the scene. The blood seemed to be in a trail across the bedroom floor and now looking back the way he had come, the direct route rather than around the skirting he could see the occasional smear of blood, probably from a shoe. He looked again at the blood on the floor. It didn't make sense. This was more than one of his nosebleeds, something bad had happened here, and he hadn't been alone when it happened either. With his heart pounding he walked back to the elevator and back down to parking level.

Hotch decided to go to his own home and try to think all of this through. His back was in agony now that the pain killers were wearing off. He just needed to lay down and try to think.

…………………………

They watched on monitors as he slowly woke up. His hands twitched and his teeth started grinding. There was a steady trickle of saliva making its way out of the corner of his mouth.

They watched him blink and they watched him frown. The camera's recorded his hand going up to his eye and gently pressing fingers against it. It recorded him pushing his hair off his face. They had left him unbound now though still in the room where he had been before. There was blood encrusted around his eye socket which he rubbed at. He rolled over and pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. White cotton pyjama style bottoms and no top but the room was warm enough and they wanted to be able to get good shots of this.

Floyd slowly crawled to the corner of the room and sat with his legs drawn up and his arms wrapped around them. He tipped his head slightly to one side and stared at the door.

They were happy. He hadn't protested and he hadn't threatened anyone. This was a good start.

………………………...

Reid opened his eyes and realised he was strapped down. He was sure he had heard Aaron earlier, but looking to the side at the chair there was no one there. "Nurse!" He called in a croaky voice. "Nurse? Help me someone!" Rising panic. Was he here all alone? The panic attack was stopped in its tracks as the nurse came rushing in.

"Dr Reid.! So glad to see you awake." A happy smiling face.

"Why am I restrained? Was Agent Hotchner here? Has Flanders been here?" He couldn't remember hearing Floyd's voice.

The nurse smiled. "No need to worry. You woke up earlier and got a bit over excited. We restrained you so your wouldn't fall out of bed." Another smile. "Agent Hotchner you say? The tall guy with dark hair?"

Spencer nodded. "Yes – is he here?" He had to be.

"He went to have a shower and a rest. He is still healing. As for the other gent, he left hours ago. Let me get you a drink of water."

Reid nodded. "Thank you." He felt exhausted still. He ran his tongue over where he hand once had teeth and the memory brought tears to his eyes.

The nurse handed the glass of water with a straw to Spencer and the she passed a tissue. "It's OK you know, to cry, if you are hurting or distressed. It is good for you."

"I will remember that. Thank you." He sipped at the water and wiped the tears away. He waited until the nurse had gone and took a deep shuddering breath.

"Where is everyone?" He whispered to himself.

……………………….

He made all necessary adjustments. He sat and stared. He waited patiently. He watched. He was good at watching and waiting. He was after all a hunter, well he had been, but old habits never die. He slowed his breathing down to conserve energy and stared unblinkingly at the door.

How long he waited he wasn't sure, but it was not so long that he was bored of the game. Slowly he moved his hand and picked at the dried blood. He was preparing. Slowly getting ready. He moved his hand back down now that his vision was not impaired by scabs of blood and he blinked.

Floyd sat and watched as the door slowly opened and one man with a taser walked in. _'As I thought. Blinkered stupid people.' _Four more men stood just inside the room. Waiting with batons.

oHow

He watched the man nervously walk over to Flanders who didn't respond, he just kept staring forward.

"On your feet."

No movement.

"I said get up."

Jerky head movements in his direction.

"UP!" indicating now with the taser.

Floyd stood and looked into the eyes of the man.

"Face the wall."

Slowly he turned and put his hands out pressing them against the wall. He looked at the white walls and imagined the blood patterns it would make. A nice bit arterial spray will brighten this room up a bit.

Floyd muttered something.

"What?" The man pressed the thing against him harder. "What did you just say?"

Slowly he turned and did his best big sharp toothy grin. "I said – you didn't think a lobotomy would stop me killing you did you?"

Teeth ripped into flesh and the taser fell to the floor. Floyd spun the man around. He wanted the blood up the walls not wasted on the floor.

* * *

_McMurphy__:- I'm a goddamn marvel of modern science.

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_


	3. Chapter 3 Changes

Changes

_Me, I'm dishonest, and you can always trust a dishonest man to be dishonest. Honestly, it's the honest ones you have to watch out for: - __Johnny Depp _

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

Aaron lay on his couch. He didn't fancy going upstairs to the emptiness of the bed room. He had dished pyjama bottoms out of a pile of clean laundry he still hadn't bothered to put away. He pulled the throw off the back of the couch around his bare shoulders and pummelled a cushion until it was the right shape and closed his eyes. A small sleep. Away from the hospital. Away from the pain of seeing Reid's scared eyes and away from the vision of all that blood at Reid's apartment. He closed his eyes but knew he wouldn't be able to sleep, not all the time Spencer was not better, not all the time he had that knot of fear in the pit of his stomach that Reid would never get over this.

He got up again and padded to the kitchen. He flicked on the light and just stood looking at the huge unused space. It would be easy to fill again, he just had to pluck up the courage to ask and not being someone who liked to wear his heart on his sleeve it wouldn't be easy and there was Floyd to consider too. Wherever he was.

Coffee machine turned on now and looking down at the empty mug in his hand. Everything always so empty. He walked back to the couch without making the drink and laid down again. He was meant to come home to rest, but this wasn't working. A shower and a change of clothes is what was needed but that involved going up into the dark empty upstairs. Not that the darkness bothered him, it was the emptiness he couldn't stand.

Walking slowly he realised he was now standing at the top of the stairs staring down the passageway to the bathroom door. 'Change of clothes.' He thought as he walked into the bedroom and pulled open the wardrobe. His hand reactively went towards a dark suit – but he pulled his hand back and pulled down a pair of jeans and a crisp white shirt. 'Shower.' And without having to look at the unused bed he walked back out and down to the bathroom. The door opened smoothly and he pulled a towel from the shelves. A pale blue. He turned on the shower and stood looking at the water and remembering showers he had had in the past. He pulled off his pyjama bottoms and stepped in under the slightly too hot water. He gasped as it hit the cuts and welts on his skin but gritted his teeth and got satisfaction from the slight pain. He picked up the liquid soap and poured some into his hands then began to slowly soap the aches and pains and blood off his body. He looked down and watched the pail watered down blood trickle away down the plughole.

"Spencer. I need to get back to Spencer." A sudden panic ripped through Aaron. He turned off the shower and quickly dried himself pulling his clothes on over slightly damp skin. He left the towel in a heap on the floor next to his discarded pyjama bottoms and ran out of the house, not even bothering to set the alarm.

He drove too fast but every second mattered. He had to be there with Spencer and he had to be there now! As he raced around the corner into the hospital grounds he saw it heading straight for him. Aaron saw a flash of white tear by him snatching his wing mirror off as it went. The ambulance didn't stop, but Aaron pulled over and took some deep breaths. "Calm down. Everything is fine. Just don't kill yourself here in the hospital grounds." At a much more genteel speed Hotch pulled over into a visitor's car park and stuck a ticket in his window from a machine. The last thing he needed now was to get clamped. Rubbing fingers against the throbbing pain in the side of his head he walked quickly to the hospital entrance.

………………..

He didn't manage to stay awake for long. The staff were pleased in a way. They didn't want him to over do things. He had been horribly brutalised and tortured, there didn't seem to be any part of his body apart – strangely his right hand and his eyes – which hadn't been mashed or cut or prodded at until it bled and now as they stood looking at him they saw the way his hands twitched and his head moved one way to the other as his eye moved manically behind his eye lids. Occasionally he would shout out 'No please don't.' and 'Stop oh god no stop.' It broke the heart of the pretty nurse who stood vigil over his bed.

………………...

"His next of kin you say? Do you have any identification? This is not really the best thing to do you know. Moving him now is not advisable. We are looking after him using the best facilities. There is no need to be rude sir; I am just saying that moving Dr Reid now is maybe not the best course of action. Yes, I see, very well, there is not much I can do to stop you."

………………...

This time when he woke up he was strapped in a straight jacket again and the muzzle had been replaced. He was in the same room and the blood had been mostly cleaned up, but it does stain so. Floyd lay on his side and looked at the pattern he had made. Satisfactory considering the circumstances. His head hurt and he had the feeling he had been hit a few times but he couldn't remember it. Happily he still had the taste of victory in his mouth.

His eye was painful where the blade had scraped along it. He was definitely not healing as quickly as he should. It bothered him slightly but if he just lay and kept still and conserved energy then he could speed it up a bit. The times between taking damage and healing were too close together though. He really did need to be careful or things might actually start of hurt for real. Slowly he rolled over and sat up.

"You happy now you stupid bastards?" He shouted at the door. Up onto his knees and then getting to his feet – he looked up around the room. Set up in the high corners of the room out of reach he could see small camera's embedded. A slight twitch of the mouth and he walked towards the door. "You can't keep me here! People _will_ start to ask questions. They _will_ come looking for me and then_ you_ will be in a world of shit." Floyd rested the side of his face against the door and concentrated. He heard the soft click of the locks sliding and he stepped back and grinned. A lovely grin it was. Teeth stained with too many vile cigarettes and too much blood.

He moved back away from the door and waited. They wanted to play games; well he was willing to play too. Floyd loved games. He glanced up at the cameras and gave a quick smirk at them and then speedily back to the door as it swung open.

He scowled at the men as they walked in. He couldn't break necks with hands and he couldn't rip out throats but they had responded to him. This was a start.

The tall skinny man walked in behind the guards.

"Mr Franks."

"My name is Flanders."

"It says on your immigration papers that your name is Franks."

"Then they are not my immigration papers. That is not my name."

"Don't play the smart ass with me Franks. We know all about you."

"Really? Well tell me. Tell me all about me? And please don't miss out the part where my name isn't sodding well Franks. Well not on any bleeding immigration papers anyway."

The skinny man smiled. "We know you are registered as deceased. This means no one, not a soul, will come looking for you Mr Franks, because you no longer exist."

"This is true. Very true. How right you are. But my name isn't Franks!"

Again the man smiled and Floyd pulled a face back in return. "So you deny being Floyd Flanders Franks? That is not you?"

Grinding his teeth. "That might be my name, but I don't actually use the name Franks."

"Good. We understand each other. I do have the right man – I am so glad, because if you weren't what I am going to do to you next would probably kill you."

…………………….

Hotch got out of the elevator on the floor Spencer was on and walked down towards his room. As he walked by the reception desk the girl with the teeth and nails called out to him.

"Agent Hotchner? I hardly recognised you. You just missed him." Hotch stopped and turn around to face the girl.

"Missed him? Where is he now?"

"He has been transferred to a different hospital sir. I thought you would have been told."

He slowly shook his head. "Who made his decision? Why was I not informed?"

She gave a little shrug. "I will find out for you sir. One minute." He watched her big blue eyes and teeth and long fingernails. "It was a Mr Franks sir who came to get him. His next of kin."

"Mr Franks? Did you see him? Can you describe him to me?"

"Yes sir. Very tall, very thin. Middle aged. He had all the necessary documentation."

Aaron again felt the tight knot of fear. "And can you tell me where they took him?"

"I am sorry sir that is confidential information."

* * *

_There are four questions of value in life... What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same. Only love: - Johnny Depp

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	4. Chapter 4 Fractures

Fractures

_Jack Torrance__ once said: - Darling. Light, of my life. I'm not gonna hurt ya. You didn't let me finish my sentence. I said, I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'm just gonna bash your brains in. I'm gonna bash 'em right the fuck in. Ha, ha._

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

He woke up laying on his back staring at the white ceiling. He moved his fingers and curled and uncurled his toes just to make sure everything was alright. He seemed to be able to feel all that he should and so he lifted his hands up in front of his face. One hand looked normal. The other had taken damage. His thumb had a big dressing over it and looking now down his arms he could see lacerations and deep welts covering his skin. He moved his hands down to his chest. A scowl. Topless. His torso hurt. He could feel lumps and bruises covering his skin. He licked his lips and moved his hands further down. Thank god he had trousers of some type on. They felt like pyjama type trousers.

Slowly he pulled his knees up towards him and pressed the bottoms of his feet onto the floor and immediately regretted the action. Agony tore through him and caused a small sound of distress to escape dry lips. He thought at first it was some kind of weird echo, but then careful listening let him know that there was someone here with him. He could hear breathing. He rolled over onto his side and looked in the direction of the noise. A small frown. Someone was laying on his side with his back to him. He was curled up in a corner facing the wall.

Spencer managed to get up onto his hands and knees. Something was tugging at his ankle but he would look at that later.

He thought briefly of going over and seeing if his person was alright, but he didn't know who he was. Maybe retreating into his own corner would be a better idea.

He crawled backwards until his toes touched the wall behind him. A jolt of pain shot through his body. Why did everything hurt so much? Not taking his eyes off the person laying in the opposite corner he pulled himself up to sit. Even sitting was painful and as he rested his back against the white wall he realised that hurt too. He ran fingers over the big leather strap he could now see around his ankle. There was a row of small locks and one big padlock attached and a chair leading back to the wall he was now sitting against.

Spencer knew he had to keep his eye on the person in the corner and so pulled his white pyjamaed legs in close to himself and wrapped his arms protectively around them squeezing tightly.

Sleep would be good now, but he seemed to be in too much pain to sleep and he needed to watch this other person in the room with him. Was he chained as well? From this angle he couldn't see. Slowly with a small sigh he slid sideways and lay foetal on the floor. Gradually his eyelids slipped shut and as his mind slipped back from where it had come from he wondered – when he awoke again would he remember where he was? Or more to the point, would he remember _who_ he was?

……………………

Floyd heard them drag someone into the room with him. He didn't turn to look he just lay where he had managed to creep to earlier. He wanted shadows but in this room there were non. Flanders was fighting the chemicals they had injected into him. Only a small while ago he had been laying on his back screaming in agony, but it was worth it. They weren't going to win this. He was stronger than them. They had no idea what they were dealing with here.

He listened to the soft whimperings and cries for them to stop and the begging to let him go. He listened to the crying and sobbing and protests and then there was silence. Still he didn't turn to see who it was. The pain still ripping through his body was still raw and the sound of blood thumping in his ears and the feeling that his heart would explode took away all reasoning. This person could stay as long as he kept quiet.

How much later he had no idea, he had started to be able to close down and heal as slowly the pain abated, but now he could hear movement and the occasional murmurings. Whoever this was had best shut up or he might have to get up and force him into silence and he really didn't want to do that. The whole point of this was to gauge his reactions to things – maybe (that was a guess Floyd, don't assume.) so he was going to maintain total control and not react the way they wanted him to. Putting a rabbit in the pen for him to slaughter wasn't going to work. Not right now anyway. Perhaps later when this bleeding pain was gone completely and he could think again.

Now the sounds of someone sleeping. The heavy breathing with the occasional hitch in his breath. Floyd frowned over in his corner and decided now was a good time to turn over and see who it was they wanted him to kill – it seemed like the logical reason they had put him here, after all he had attacked everyone else getting close to him

Slowly he turned and looked. The way the light was shining brightly down on him made his hair glow auburn and his skin shine white. The lacerations on his pale flesh stood out angrily. Floyd took a deep breath and reached out a hand, though he knew that he was too far away to touch. Is this who they wanted him to kill? Was that perfect throat the one they wanted to see him rip open. Well it wasn't going to work. His inner self would never do that. Not to this perfect person. Well perfect apart from the need to take drugs to drown out his pain and perfect except for the insecurities he carried around with him everywhere. Floyd knew he could hurt this person, but could never kill him. Not purposefully anyway. He lay and watched that beautiful face and that odd feeling twisted inside him.

"Spence Babe?" His voice came out as a juddering whisper.

…………………

Aaron and Morgan stood in the office.

Morgan had been shouting and pacing and Aaron for once let him. He wanted to join in the shouting too, but needed to stay in complete control.

"I still don't understand why you let him go." Aaron's monotone voice in contrast with Derek's verbal assault.

"We did advise he stayed here Agent Hotchner, but his next of kin insisted he was moved to a facility closer to his own neighbourhood. It is an excellent facility, Dr Reid will be cared for just as well at St Augustines."

Derek approached the desk and slammed a fist down. It made Aaron jump slightly and caused the man the other side of the desk to stand. "But he isn't _at _St Augustines!" Morgan shouted. "How many times do we have to say the same thing?"

"I won't be talked to in this manner in my own office Agent Morgan. I don't care who you are. You cannot intimidate me." They doctor was staying in control.

"Morgan just sit down for a while." It wasn't a request from his boss, it was an order. Derek threw himself down into a chair and rubbed his hands over the back of his neck.

"He is right though doctor Culver. Dr Reid never arrived at his destination." Again his voice staying in control of the mad scream going on in his head.

"Well I am surely sorry about that, but he ceased to be our responsibility as soon as the release papers were signed. The papers I believe you have taken for analysis. May I suggest that you focus your energy there?" Looking at Morgan now.

A sigh. "Dr Culver." It was getting harder to stay in control now. "Do you remember enough to be able to give a description to our sketch artist?"

A nod. "I think I can do that, so long as it doesn't take up my clinic time or is during my rounds and I have a lecture to attend."

Derek was standing again. "Well we will try to fit it in around your very important duties, but I think a missing – abducted sick and badly injured young man is slightly more important than your damned lectures!" He had started in a low calm voice and finished off desk thumpingly mad. Derek looked at Hotch who gave a small nod towards the door and Morgan left the room.

"Just because I am not shouting doesn't mean I don't want to reach over the desk and show you how angry I am." Hotch got up and followed Morgan. He turned as he left the room. "I will send over a sketch artist. Make sure you are available please."

* * *

_Alex__:- What we were after now was the old surprise visit. That was a real kick and good for laughs and lashings of the old ultraviolence.

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_


	5. Chapter 5 Lab Rats

Lab Rats

_Ichabod Crane__ once said__: - It is truth, but truth is not always appearance._

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

He lay in silence watching the sleeping face. He saw the way he occasionally jerked and cried out but Floyd just lay in his own pain and watched. What were they expecting him to do, why was Spencer here and how? He was meant to be healing in a hospital not laying on the floor in this bright white room with blood stains up the wall and on the floor now it seemed. Floyd thought that probably the blood on the floor had been his before they tried to bleach it away.

Floyd watched Reid reach out for something in his dreams and then roll over to face the wall. It was now Floyd could see his back and the bottom of his feet and how some of the wounds had opened and were weeping and bleeding. With a sigh he pulled himself up to his hands and knees and moved a bit closer. Was this what they wanted? He stopped again trying to think through the pounding headache and now that well known feeling of approaching nose bleed. He backed off again and moved back to the wall he had been against. He turned and faced and sneezed. It felt good – almost like something throbbing and pulsating in his brain had finally popped. Floyd knelt and watched the clots of blood slime down the wall. At least the headache was gone now. He smiled and looked at the pattern he had made.

When Spencer howled and started talking in his sleep, Floyds attention was drawn back to him. _'Please no please no – stop.' _Muttered under his breath over and over. He could see the way his body hand tensed and the skin on his back split a little bit more.

Floyd crawled over to him a bit closer. "Spence. It's me. Wake up." And now he was kneeling and watching the tiny rivulets of blood trickle from his back.

Almost in a dream Floyd saw his hand reach out and a finger run down Spencer's back through the red fluid. He put his finger slowly to his lips and gently licked it off.

Was this what they were looking for? The cannibal, the insane Floyd? The Floyd with no self control. The one who will kill just because it is there? He reached out and put a hand on Spencer's bony shoulder. "Babes – wake up." But he spoke too softly for him to actually mean what he was saying. Floyd lay down behind Spencer and slipped one arm under him and the other across his chest. He felt that satisfying push back from Reid. Forcing himself closer to Flanders letting out a little whimper.

Floyd didn't move even though he could feel his nose dripping blood he wanted to just hold Spencer and pull him through the nightmare he was having. He refused to give these people what they wanted. Today he was having a good day. Today he didn't much feel like hurting his Spence.

…………………….

They sat and watched the monitors. So far everything had gone according to plan. No real surprises yet. The stocky man in the white lab coat filled in numbers on a form and then transferred them to the computer. He got up and left the room. Walking quickly down a stark white corridor with big over head lights and metal doors on either side. He entered a laboratory and walked to bench where something was brewing nicely. He looked down at his notes and smiled.

…………………….

Spencer was being held by someone. This someone was licking the back of his neck and nibbling gently on his shoulder. He opened his eyes but didn't move. Was this the person he had seen in the room previously? He could feel hot breath on the nape of his neck as this someone nuzzled into his hair. Laying as still as he could he listened. He could hear heavy breathing and now hands moving over his chest and down to his abdomen.

'_Oh no please not again.'_

He suddenly moved away and rolled over. He was looking into the dark eyes of the man who had been in the room with him. The face looked back at him and put a hand out.

"Get your hands off m m me." Spencer hissed and started to move away along the edge of the room.

The man followed looked puzzled. "It's only me."

"I can s s see who you are. Don't you t touch me!" Now he was shouting.

"Shit Spence, calm down. I wasn't going to hurt you. You were having a nightmare. It's OK babe."

Reid reached as far as the chain would let him and the man was still there reaching out. "Touch me again and – and – and - you will regret it." Back to the low hissing.

"What in hell's name is wrong with you. You know I would never hurt you." Just a small lie. OK a big lie – but people can change.

"Just keep your f f filthy hands to yourself." Pulling at the restraint on his leg.

Floyd moved a hand over and placed it over Spencer's. "I can do that for you." And Reid planted a fist on Floyd's mouth and it was felt by both parties. Reid's knuckles split with the force, and Floyd's lip was cut by his teeth. He spat blood at Reid and planted a punch back on Reid's chin. Spencer fell backwards and Floyd moved out of the way. When Reid pulled himself up again ready to gouge eyes and smash noses, Floyd was well out of reach.

"I was going to help you, you little freak! What did you go hit me for? I just want to help you Spence, what he hell is wrong with you?"

Reid ignored this person now and sat pulling at the restraint on his leg until his ankle started to bleed.

……………………..

Floyd could smell the fresh blood and it made his mouth water. That lovely sweet smell of Spencer. He was going to have to wait though. He would have to wait until Reid was sleeping again or he could just go in and slap him into unconsciousness but he had a feeling that is what they expected of him.

He needed his smokes.

He needed his stuff.

He needed to get out of here.

Floyd sat and looked at the blood seeping from behind the leather strap. "Let me help you."

"Don't t talk to me." Pulling again and now Floyd could smell blood from Reid's back and his hands. He closed his eyes and tried to block it out but the smell was all consuming. It was firing up parts of his brain he needed to keep calm. He looked up and Reid's pale face with his hair falling down covering his eyes like a long wavy auburn curtain. Flanders wanted to touch it. Too feel the softness with his fingers. He wanted to run his tongue over and around that ankle and he wanted Spencer.

Floyd pulled back further and into the corner he had originally been in, but he was unable to stop the feeling building up inside. Will power was seeping slowly away and making his hands shake. He watched as Reid moved across the floor back to where he had been and looked and the small smear of blood he left behind him. Nothing big. Nothing too big. Nothing he couldn't take charge of now.

If this was going to have to happen, then it wasn't going to happen under the gaze of his captors. He looked up at the camera's and smirked. Slowly he began his careful pursuit of Reid across the floor.

……………………….

The men sat watching the monitors. They studied the reactions between the two men. They noted how Floyd seemed to be mesmerised by the sight of the blood. They wanted to see exactly how far he would go to get what he needed. What he wanted. What he was lusting after. They all leaned in closer and watched him look up at the camera and almost smile.

The monitors went blank. The system rebooted.

"How the hell does he do that?!" The tall skinny man jumped to his feet. "Move it. We need to get in there and stop this now." They started to run down the corridor towards a door set into the end. "If he kills Dr Reid I want to be there to see it."

……………………..

Hotch and Morgan sat looking at the sketch. Derek looked over at Hotch. "I still don't understand this Flanders business. We cremated him."

Aaron nodded. "I don't understand it fully either but it's irrelevant. He slapped the picture down on the table. "This isn't Flanders."

"I can see that, but Hotch, that man. Flanders. He's not normal. We have seen how he controls people."

Aaron turned and frowned at Derek. "There is blood in the apartment. Flanders blood. I recognise his – erm – nosebleeds but this is more. I don't think this is something he has control over Morgan. The two things are either totally unconnected and he had a nose bleed and then just left town and we know it wouldn't be the first time he has abandoned Reid at the times he is most needed. It is almost like a defence mechanism of his. He bolts rather than face it, or they have both been taken by the same person. Apologies for stating the obvious, but as far as I can see it those are the two options." He stopped for breath.

Morgan nodded, "I can see where you are coming from Hotch, but if he took them both, why? And now I am asking the obvious. I am getting Garcia to check the security camera's at the hospital. They might at least pick up on the vehicle registration. They said he was taken away by ambulance so it shouldn't be too hard to track. I hope. But yeah – Pen is working on it."

…………………….

And Floyd was drooling and shaking with lust and need as he crawled forward.

* * *

_Kill it! No, no! Stun it!: - __Ichabod Crane.

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	6. Chapter 6 The Restaurant

The Restaurant 

_Lust__'s passion will be served; it demands, it militates, it tyrannizes__: - __Marquis De Sade _

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

Floyd crawled across the floor touching the smears of blood carefully and putting his fingers to his nose to inhale the delicious scent. He needed that ankle. He needed it so much he thought he was going to die. Right somewhere in the back of his head he could hear someone shouting, but the words were lost on him, all he could see or think about was that redness oozing out from behind the strap on Spencer's ankle.

"It's alright babes, it's only me." He muttered to himself, he was sure Reid couldn't hear him and as his heart pounded and he reached a hand out to touch that foot the door behind him swung open.

Quickly he pulled his hand back again, still not able to hear what it was Reid was shouting at him. The blood thumping in his ears was deafening him but now. Look now.

'_More people here to watch you Floyd. They are here to see how you kill. They want you to tear the scared little rabbit apart.'_

It won't work. He looked up at Spencer's face and could see his mouth working and shouting at him and then he looked back down at that prize. The thing he had won - that white ankle with a sweet dressing of fresh warm blood and he slowly turned around.

'_Plenty of time to win Spencer back. For now lunch seems to have been served on a different platter.'_

"What the hell do you want?" He looked up at the guard standing in the front.

"Mr Franks, you are messing with our cameras again. You will stop it or you will face the consequences."

"You will give me my smokes and snort back or I will sit on my arse and do nothing. I'm not your little performing monkey."

A guard standing next to the tall skinny guy pulled out a pistol. "You said between the eyes this time?"

The tall guy nodded. "Yes I did, but I think it should be the young Dr Reid who gets his brains smeared on the wall this time."

Floyd watched the gun move and point at something to the side of him. He turned to see Spencer's face glaring back. "OK OK I will stop messing with the sodding cameras. Just get me my smokes and stuff."

"You are not in the position to bargain with us Mr Franks. You will stop messing with the cameras or we will carry on with this little experiment without the aid of Dr Reid." The gun was lowered.

Slowly the men stepped back out of the room and Floyd heard the locks click. A sigh and he turned to look at Reid who was sitting still glaring at him with his back against the wall.

"You can at least say 'thank you', I just gave up my chance of getting my smokes so they wouldn't blast the back of you head off." He looked down and saw that the bleeding had stopped. The blood was drying around Reid's foot and ankle. "You know I can release that for you." Pointing at the strap. "You only have to ask, or you can keep trying to get out of it yourself. If you pull hard enough and with the help of some blood," a deep sigh. "you can slip your foot right out." Floyd stood up and walked over to where Reid was. "Let me help you."

He could smell the fear and see it clearly in Reid's eyes. "Don't c c come any closer."

"Spence! It's me for fucks sake! I won't hurt you." He watched the ankle move again against the strap and more blood began to well up around the edges. "Good lad – you keep doing that."

Flanders crouched on the floor his eyes flicking between that scared face and the ankle. He could feel his breathing getting heavier. Floyd new he had self control somewhere, it was just so hard to think when these withdrawals were sending shockwaves of pain through him. He stood up and walked to the door. He didn't pop the locks but just stood staring at it. "What is the point in this? What are you trying to prove? This wont work. Get Dr Reid out of here." a pause as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Get me my damned smokes your sons of bitches!"

"You c c can undo this thing?" Spencer's nervous voice.

Floyd span to look at him. "It's what I have been saying. I need to touch it though. You will have to let me touch your – your ankle." He watched Spencer look at the strap and he heard a resigned sigh.

"Very well." And he stretched his leg out in front of him towards Floyd.

'_This is a mistake, you know this is a mistake, don't undo it Floyd, you will be a fool to undo it. All that delicious fresh blood just sitting there calling you. Leave the strap_.'

Flanders fell to his hands and knees and began to crawl forwards, again the sweet Spencer smell over-riding all other senses.

…………………..

Spencer knew he had to try to trust this person. He had after all done something, he wasn't sure what yet in his confused mind, but he had definitely done something to make that guy put the gun away. There was no way he could escape this thing on his ankle so therefore he had to try to trust. He moved his leg out towards this strange person. The further away from him he was the better. This was so wrong. All of his gut feeling knew this was wrong, but he didn't know what else to do.

The guy was running fingers over the strap. He watched as one by one the little locks popped open. He watched the fingers run over the strap and around the final lock, and he swallowed. Spencer heard the deep breaths the other man was taking. He saw him licking his lips and the almost purposeful way he was letting his fingers slid through the blood which was welling up.

'_Pull away, don't let him touch you!'_

He tried to snatch his foot away, but as the strap slid off his foot the guy grabbed his ankle tightly and – "NO! Stop it. Get off me! What are you doing?" The Floyd guy started licking hungrily at the blood. Now he looked up at Spencer and slowly he crawled his way up his body. Hands touching him and moving across him where no man (or woman) should ever touch. He felt a whimper of fear as the face looked him in the eyes and he saw blood around the mouth and the deepest dark eyes he had ever seen and he continued to crawl up his body touching and now head back down, kissing and licking and nibbling his way up. Now over his abdomen and across his chest, hands moving up and touching him oh so gently over the neck and jaw.

Reid tried again to pull away but this person was far too strong and had him pinned to the floor and was muttering. "Stop struggling, you are making it worse. Just let me do this." He felt hands around his throat stopping the air getting to his lungs and now he was kicking out and trying to pull the hands away. "I said stop struggling!" The hands went from his neck, and he took in a long deep shuddering breath just as the fist made contact with his mouth splitting his lip and making his petrified eyes open wide. He didn't feel the fist to the side of his head, nor did he feel the one to his jaw as he felt this monster pressing his body against his and sending him spiralling into darkness.

…………………………

They were back at the BAU offices looking through the information Garcia had managed to come up with. JJ was standing looking useless. Her love for Spencer had grown to be that that of a good friend. She forgave him for what happened at the ball game, but she would never stop feeling of being like a big sister. She was protective towards the youngest team member. Even if he did drive her made with his oddness and she even sometimes wondered if Spencer was the reason Gideon left the team. She could well imagine getting too close to Reid could do something undesirable to you.

Prentiss too looked worried. They had hardly any information. She looked down at the sketch of the man they were looking for. It could be one of many thousands living in the surrounding area. No distinguishing marks, just tall and skinny. At least when they were looking for Floyd they knew they were looking for someone who would stand out in the crowd simply by the way he stood or held his hand behind his back, or OK, by those stunning looks, but this was nothing. A tall skinny guy with pale hair and a high forehead.

Hotch was looking at the information and pictures Garcia had managed to get on the ambulance which took Reid away, though they had no confirmation it was the correct vehicle. No cameras picked up on who was being put in the ambulance, and the people involved in the abduction must have known where the cameras were and kept their faces concealed. This was all totally insane. The number plates had been kept covered purely by the darkness. They still had nothing.

Morgan was wanting to kill the bin again. So many opportunities and still nothing. He crushed the empty soda can in his hand and looked up at Rossi. "Any ideas?"

A nod. "Garcia, can you go over all of the video tapes once more. Someone must have slipped up somewhere, and a list of anyone who might now or in the past have access to information on the security cameras throughout the hospital."

"I'm on it sir." And Garcia got up and quickly left the room.

"Still no ransom demand." Prentiss closed her file. "I really don't like this sir. We should have heard from someone by now."

* * *

_The Difficulty lies, in finding out an exact Measure; but eat for Necessity, not Pleasure, for __Lust__ knows not where Necessity ends__: - __Benjamin Franklin

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	7. Chapter 7 Having Friends for Dinner

Having Friends for Dinner

_Leech__:- I believe beauty can only truly be appreciated through taste. (American Cyborg)_

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

"Floyd? What are you doing?"

Spencer's voice in his ear.

"Spence. Just shut up."

"Get off me!"

"Shut up babes and let me do this." This was more like the Spence he loved to love. (and hurt)

"You – you, Floyd you are hurting me."

"I know Babes. That's the whole bleeding point of it isn't it? Now mouth is open – should be closed – unless I need it open. Understand?"

Big hazel eyes staring into his dark ones, no longer afraid like earlier. Now he just looked hurt.

"Stop looking at me like that!" Now Floyd was getting cross. The small amount of pleasure he had been getting from a sleeping Spencer had gone. Now the little freak was arguing with him and trying to make him feel bad about it. Wasn't going to work.

"Get off me Floyd – What is this place? - Hey that hurts!" And Spencer put his hands on Floyd's shoulders trying to push him away.

Now he was truly getting pissed off. "You are spoiling it all you little bastard! Why do you have to fight me on every damned thing I want to do?" So he just held him around the neck and in some kind of hazy dream watched Spencer struggle against him until he lay still. Floyd removed his hands and placed his head on Spencer's chest. "Good boy – now let me do this and you lay still for me."

……………….

They sat and watched on the monitors and grinned and nodded. "This is exactly what we expected." The tall skinny man turned to the guy in the lab coat. "How close are you to having the next stage prepared?"

He stepped forward. "It will be ready by tonight. One more thing I need to do, which I will do now, and then it will need to cool down a bit, though I doubt temperature will make a lot of difference."

"Wonderful." And a big yellow smile. "That will give him time to sort his mind out before we start again." He now turned to another guy in the room wearing a dark suit. "And do you thing Dr Reid will need medical attention?"

A slow shake of the head. "I don't think any of that treatment was new to Dr Reid. He will be fine. I will keep a record of how long he is out for this time. I am sure he won't be harmed by this. Too much."

A satisfied nod. "Well – I think I will take break." He got up and left the room

………………..

Floyd pulled away from Spencer and knelt on the floor next to him. "Any time you want to wake up now will be good." He looked back down to the ankle and smiled then crawled back to the corner he had been in to start with. He was satisfied with that side of his needs, but the rest still needed to be sorted. He might have lost a bit – just a tiny bit – hardly noticeable bit – of control there, but not so much that he would want to kill. He sat in the corner with his legs pulled up tightly to him and watched as Reid slowly became aware again.

Reid rolled over onto his side and looked across at Floyd. "You need to learn to ask."

"You were sleeping."

"I was unconscious."

"There is a difference?"

"A sizable difference. Sleeping is when .."

"You don't need to explain. I know."

A puzzled look on Reid's face. "What is this place? How did I get here?"

A shrug. "Don't know for both. We have been here a while though."

"We have?" He started to crawl towards Floyd.

"Stop. Don't come over here."

Reid stopped. "What's wrong?"

"I just don't want you getting too close." Fists clenching and unclenching.

Spencer looked at Floyd's face and at his hands and at the way his eyes were looking at him, and the way his mouth was set, and it sent shivers up his spine. Slowly he moved back to his corner.

It felt like an eternity that they sat in silence looking at each other. Floyd heard the door locks slide back and was on his feet. Reid span, still not able to stand and looked over at the door. Five large muscular men walked in. One of them was holding a clear plastic bag. Floyd could see his smokes and a pack of matches. The man held it up for Floyd to see.

"Dr Reid will come with us. Get up." A voice from the rear.

"He's not going anywhere. Spence don't move."

Reid tried to make himself blend into the wall behind him.

"Dr Reid get over here now!"

"Spence don't you move." Floyd was looking between the bag and Reid and back again. This was some kind of trick. They were offering him his smokes in exchange for Reid. "This wont work. You can't have him." He watched now as someone walked over to Reid and grabbed him by a wrist and started to drag him. His was also watching the man pull out one of his smokes and begin to roll it about in his fingers. Flanders could smell it. He could see it, and now he could hear Spencer shouting out.

"Get off me!"

He moved fast and grabbed Reid by his healthy ankle and started to pull him out of the grip of the UnSub. "Leave him alone you sons of bitches. What's he done to you?" And he watched as his smoke was crumbled into tiny bits and replaced into the bag. "What do you bastards want?!" He heard Reid again.

"Floyd let go of me."

He closed his eyes and looked at Spencer. A shotgun was being held to his head.

"Good. Now you understand do you Mr Franks. Let go of Dr Reid and move back." He released his ankle and sat back on his haunches.

"We are going to give you a little something to calm you down, and then you can have your buddy back again. Until then you will stay still and let us do what we came in here to do."

He watched the gun pressing down onto the back of Reid's head and Floyd sighed. "Very well. Just let him go."

White lab coat man walked forwards. "A special thing just for you Mr Franks."

"Flanders, my name is Flanders."

"Irrelevant. Arm please? Or in the neck again?"

Ignored. He watched the man walk towards him with a needle ready to stick in him.

"Spence – just do what they ask." He felt the pricking in the side of his neck and out of bleary eyes he saw them drag a wriggling Spence from the room as he slowly slid sideways to the floor again.

…………………..

Reid was taken to a room very much like the one he had just been dragged from. They gave him a bottle of water and some bread soaked in sugary milk.

"What – what did you do to him?"

"You just worry about yourself." The door was slammed and he was left in the room.

He sat and looked at the water. Water he would need, the other stuff he wouldn't, so he pushed it to the side and picked up the bottled water. He shook it to see if there were puncture holes in it anywhere and then carefully opened the top. It made a slight hiss and the seal was broken. The water was cold and wonderful in his mouth. He sipped it slowly holding the bottle with one hand and feeling the bruises on his neck with the other.

…………………

His head span in a familiar way. He lay on his back and watched the patterns rolling across the ceiling. He thought he might even want to sing to them, sometimes if you sing they move in time. The song he started to sing was out of tune and strange. Almost otherworldly in the effect it had to the dancing moving patterns. He curled and uncurled his toes and dribbled for a short while until the patterns moved off out of the wall. Curious. Floyd stood and walked to the wall and stood looking at it, willing the colours to return.

When the door opened in slow motion and someone entered the room he thought maybe he was flying at first and then – silly him – it was the floor – the room was falling sideways. He watched the person fall to the floor and he saw a strange redness ooze from around the head.

Oh good. Dinner at last. He had to crawl. The floor was still too tilted to be able to stand and when he did try to get up he fell over backwards. Crawling hands and knees. Digging fingers into the slightly soft flooring. (Cant smash brains out on this stuff you know.)

He reached out for the person laying on the floor. Everything had gone foggy and strange. He was still moving in slow motion and the room was tilting further. For a small while the floor became too soft to hold onto and he slid sideways towards the door, but using great powers of strength (this made him giggle) he clawed his way towards the person laying there in white pyjama bottoms. He moved his fingers over the back of this person and then up to the neck. Floyd noticed that the ends of his fingers were bleeding, probably from having to hang onto the floor like this. A pulse. Good he needed a pulse.

Floyd grabbed the arm and sniffed his way down to the wrist. "I am so hungry."

It was pretty tame really. He bit into the white flesh and drank. The person he was using to quench his thirst twitched a couple of times but never really put up a fight. He was never awake enough to do that.

…………………….

They watch Floyd hallucinating and moaning and trying to stand and falling. They listened to the strange song he sung and the careful way he approached his food.

They were surprised and a little disappointed in the manner he took the person's life. He had been gentle and he caressed the corpse as he fed. It was the next bit they had not expected. After such loving careful care, he crouched down next to his person and slowly with his bare hands skinned him. He left the face in tact but the rest he stripped. He took the scalp, he bit off the fingers, he looked around the room frustrated and kept going back to the head. He removed internal organs. Setting some aside, and caressing and talking to others.

……………………

Floyd looked down at the mess he had made and smiled. He slowly moved back away from it, taking with him the fingers and a few other select pieces and huddled in his corner singing again.

* * *

_Jules__:- Oh man, I will never forgive yo ass for this. This is some fucked-up, repugnant shit. (pulp fiction)

* * *

_

**A/N: OK that went a big strange.

* * *

**


	8. Chapter 8 Tantrums and Monsters

Tantrums and Monsters.

_Smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics: - Author Unknown_

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

Reid sat in the white room for about half an hour, he still had a lot of water left and he still had not touched the food – if it can be called food – when the door opened again and once more he was ordered to his feet.

"I can't stand. My feet."

"You continue to be awkward with us Dr Reid you will have your privileges removed. The water was snatched from his hands and again his wrist was held tightly as they dragged him out and down the passage again.

"What did I do?! Let me go! Where are you taking me? I didn't do anything!"

He shouted and wriggled and kicked out but it didn't stop them dragging him down the corridor to a different room. All expenses paid. A mini bar with a mug of slightly warm water and grey brick walls. The door was a heavy wooden one, but still far beyond Reid's ability to escape from. For fun they decided to cuff his hands behind his back and keep the lights dim.

Spencer sat on the cold stone floor and stared at the door. It was only a day or so ago he had been rescued from somewhere and now it felt as though he was right back where he had started, only this time it was Floyd doing the damage and not the rescuing. He needed a drink so much. He had tried to conserve his water and now it had been taken from him, his lips still tasted of blood and his throat was dry but for now he would just sit and stare at the water and imagine what it would feel like if he drank some. Sure it was drugged there was no way he would touch it, but the temptation was there for him. A cruel game they were playing here and what were they doing to Floyd? And why was he acting so strangely? Oh OK he always acted strangely but this was a new kind of strange. OK again- not totally new, just this side of Floyd hadn't been seen for a while. Well not that he had seen anyway.

He shuffled back into the corner and waited. Waited for what he wasn't sure. Rescue probably, because he had seen the faces of these UnSubs, they weren't going to let them go. Not unless Floyd had a dastardly plan up his sleeve just waiting for the right moment.

Reid wanted to wrap his arms around his legs to feel the comfort of being held tightly, but they had made sure he couldn't do that. He pulled at the flexicuffs but he knew in his heart he would never get out of them so small point in making his wrists bleed again. He tipped his head back and looked at the ceiling and after a minute or so the lights went out.

Plunged into pitch darkness.

…………………..

The door opened just a crack and the small bag of smokes was dropped on the floor. Floyd sat and resisted the temptation to run and get it for all of two seconds. With shaking hands he removed a smoke from the bag and pulled out the book of matches. There was one match. Three smokes, he would have to light on off the next. Shakily he put his hand rolled smoke to his lips and lit the match. It stuttered and hissed and went out. Floyd just sat looking at the dead match and then up at the cameras. He showed them the match. They would bring another, he was sure of it. He could taste the chemicals in him mouth from the unlit cheroot type thing.

"Another match would be good right now." He shouted at the camera. "NOW! You sons of bitches!" He was on his feet looking up at the cameras and shouting. "Right! You want trouble? You will get fucking trouble!"

Back in the room full of monitors the lights on the screens went out and the system rebooted.

Flanders looked at the body he had been working on earlier and took his rage out on it. He ripped the flesh from it and hurled it at the walls, he stamped on it he ripped off a big of rib bone and chewed on the end and then rammed it hard into the ear of the body. When he had finished there was not much left of that looked even slightly human.

This was more like the behaviour they had wanted to see, but Floyd had made sure they didn't. He looked at the door and heard the locks pop open but the door was still secure. They had tied flexicuffs around the locks and handle. They were learning.

He raged and screamed at them for well over three hours. He didn't slow; he didn't even seem to take breath between his rantings and obscenities. The room was smeared with blood and various bits of things and finally he gave up and knelt on the floor.

"Another match please." He muttered.

……………………

Aaron stood once again in Reid and Floyd's apartment only this time he was with Morgan.

"I am sure part of the answer is here." Aaron was holding something tightly in his hand.

Derek looked over at Aaron and then down to the dying blood on the floor. "Well he hasn't been back here." He watched Aaron grip tighter onto whatever it was he had in his hand. "We need forensics over here Hotch."

Hotch shook his head and frowned. "How do I explain Flanders blood on the floor?"

Morgan shook his head. "I don't know the answer to that one. I wish I knew myself but he sure and hell aint dead."

"I still can't put out missing persons alert on him. Records all show he is dead."

"Why the hell would you want to find him? The further away from us the better. That man is a prize manipulator. I don't know how he does it Hotch, but I think he can make you do just about anything he wants."

Aaron's face twitched slightly. "They are together somewhere. I need to know if whoever took Reid was under orders or the influence of Flanders or if this is something else far more worrying." Clenching and unclenching his fist.

"What you have in your hand?" Morgan was now staring at Hotch's fist.

"Oh – Reid's teeth. I was going to see if there was anything he could do with them."

"Apart from putting them under his pillow? 'cos I think that he probably would."

Aaron managed a small smile. "Yes you are probably right and I am sure Flanders would have kept the joke going for him." He opened his hand and looked at the teeth which had been ripped from Spencer's mouth. "I'll put them in his night stand." His stomach clenched as he walked over and pulled open the drawer. Inside was the paraphernalia belonging to the two men. Hotch closed his eyes for a second trying to get the vivid images out of his head and then carefully dropped the teeth down next to the tubes and packets.

"I am going to call in the CSU. We can at least see if there are any fingerprints here we can use. Garcia is trying to track that ambulance through speed cameras out on the highway."

Aaron turned and looked over at Morgan trying to keep an impassive face on. "Good good. You call them. I am going to have another look around to see if I can see anything wrong."

Morgan nodded and pulled his phone off his belt.

Aaron stared at the pair of dusty cowboy boots over in the corner of the room.

……………………

He pushed him self further back into the corner of the room. The light was totally zero and although he had been trying to get over this fear of the dark right now it didn't seem to be working.

Shufflings in the corners and things moving around. He let out an involuntary yelp as something moved across his foot. He wanted to stand but any pressure on his feet was still agony from the damage they had recently taken, but what was worse? The agony or these – things – on the floor.

He started to sweat and breathe quick and shallow in his panic and now something brushed against his face. Hands still tightly secured behind his back he couldn't protect his face. He put his head down onto his knees and as he heard things scuttling around him his breathing became shallower and his head began to feel dizzy.

"Don't panic. They are trying to make you panic." And something crawled up his back.

This was more than he could take and he leapt to his feet. Screaming in pain he ran to where he thought the door was and found the wall first. His head cracked against the hard grey surface and sent him straight down to his knees again and now he was losing all reasoning as he scrabbled back again imagining all sorts of creatures out there in the dark ready to attack him again. Spencer could feel blood trickling down his face and making its way into his eyes.

He wanted to scream for help but his voice locked and all that came out was a strange whimpering sound and something was going to crawl in his ear – he knew how painful that was going to be, so once again whimpering now in pain and fear he got to his feet and tried to find the door. Though what he would do when he found it he didn't know.

Something touched his toes and there was a warm wet feeling splashing against his foot and lower leg and he ran. He found the door with his face and he felt his nose crack as for a while everything stopped and he was drawn into the land of nightmares.

……………………….

The door swung open and a huddle of armed men stood there. The one in the front held one lit match. "Hurry before it burns down. One false move Mr Franks and the match is gone.

Floyd looked around the mess he had made and found a smoke laying half in a splodge of blood. He picked it up and wiped it clean then carefully put it between his lips. His hands were shaking so much now that if they had given him a match to light he wouldn't have been able to do it. He walked to the match and slowly put the end of his smoke into the flame. He sucked in the fumes and looked up at the man who was shaking the match out again.

"Well, what do you say?" The man said.

"About bleeding time you son of a bitch."

* * *

_The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown:__- __H. P. Lovecraft

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_


	9. Chapter 9 Hunter

Hunter

_Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you__: - __Marsha Norman _

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

He lay on his back in some dark hole somewhere and could smell it getting closer. He couldn't move. His whole body was paralysed and all he could do is lay there and slowly slowly sink in the mud. Things twisted and he fell.

He was laying on his back in the dark slowly sinking into some stinking mud someone had his foot on his chest and was pushing him slowly down deeper. He could hear laughter and he could feel the thick muck swallowing his arms and legs. The booted foot moved off his chest and onto his face and again it pressed down forcing his face under the mud and as he sucked the muck down into his lungs things twisted and he fell again.

He was laying on his back blind folded and restrained on a bed. He had a tube pushed down his throat and it made him want to vomit. The blind fold was removed and Floyd was looking down at him, but this was not the Floyd he knew, this was something cold and demonic and he slowly dropped wriggling things down the tube to the laughter of children standing watching and now he was falling sideways off the bed and he was on the floor in the dark vomiting with his hands tied behind his back and things started to crawl onto his face and up his arms.

Spencer shuffled forwards spitting blood and (wriggling) stuff out of his mouth and attempted to find the door again. He could feel the coldness of old blood and stomach contents stuck to his face and hair, and now things buzzing around his head and landing on his face and crawling again towards his ear. He opened his mouth to shout out and things crawled into his mouth.

Reid lay back on the floor and curled up as tightly as he could. The things landing on every part of available space. He could feel them sucking on this wounds and now finally they were in his ears and burrowing under his eyelids. He wanted to scream, but now all he could do was try to keep breathing, until the things started to make their way up his nose and down the back of his throat.

Again Reid was pulled away into a void of complete nothingness and there he stayed.

……………………….

Floyd had his back tight against the wall in his clean little corner of mayhem and enclosed himself in a comforting blanket of smoke. He took the vile chemicals deep down into his lungs and felt it begin to course through his blood.

The blood which had soaked into the thing he was smoking made it taste a bit odd but it wasn't until he was about half way through that he realised something was not quite right.

He lay on his back smoking - his head spinning wildly and his mind racing in all directions. Vaguely he thought he might have heard the door open and then close. He had a sensation of someone sticking needles in his arms and he felt them manhandling him to roll over onto his front while they stuck something which might or might not have been painful into his spine. Then onto his side.

Floyd considered moving but the smoke was too tight around his head and the drugs too strong in his already spiked system to be able to stop this. He could feel his nose was bleeding and he could feel he was going to be sick. This was the same sensation he had when they took him from the apartment. The same drug given to him in a different way. The only thing he could do as they stuck the long needle like devise into his hip bone was to inhale a bit deeper. The sensation of marrow being sucked from his bone was almost amusing and something was screaming warnings at him. Something was shouting at him to stop them before it's too late.

Turned back onto his front again the smoke all but finished it was removed from between his lips and a fresh one put in its place. Floyd could see the flame from the match and he could feel swabs being taken from places he didn't fancy them taking swabs from. He wanted to protest, but the lure of the match over came all warnings, and he inhaled from the fresh smoke. Which strangely enough had the same odd taste as the first. Oh well.

Now a swab from his mouth and his nose and turned back over quickly a swab from somewhere else. Then they pulled him back onto his front.

"Thank you very much Mr Franks. Enjoy the rest of your smoke. It might be your last one."

"Go screw yourself." He mumbled from somewhere in the fog.

…………………………

They stood around in the lab with the collection of samples they had taken from Floyd.

"We need to get this stuff tested immediately. I need to know what that thing is. I need to know what makes Flanders tick and once we have found that – well Mr Franks is going to one pissed off – whatever he is.

Different samples were taken to different areas and one man picked up a twist of cellophane. "Shall we let him have this now? I would be interested to see what an overdose on this stuff will do to him."

Yellow teeth looked over at him. "It won't kill him?"

A derisive snort. "I hardly think that is likely."

So with a nod he left the room with an armed guard.

…………………………

'_They will be back – Oh yes they will and when they come back they will be very surprised at how quickly I can adapt to their poisons. Stupid people – they are really not understanding this situation. Yes they will be back soon. I can almost smell their smugness I can taste it – I can feel it with my – with my thing I feel emotions with. They are coming and they have a gift for me. How nice – how thoughtful, but it is a trick Floyd, don't be fooled. Don't be taken in by them, you know what you need to do so do not allow for distractions.'_

He crawled slowly in a circle around the room – a spiral ever increasing in its size. Timing it carefully but making it look random. Stopping staring at nothing and then continuing. He heard the ties being snipped off the locks. Oh goody. He heard the locks being carefully unlocked and he watched the door open. Floyd chose this moment to be a staring into space one. He could see in his peripheral vision a man holding a twist.

Floyd's head snapped around and his eyes locked with the other thing he really needed right now. His twist. His nectar. He inhaled the scent coming from behind the cellophane and it made his mouth twitch. They had despoiled this too. They had added something to it. There were chemicals in that twist he hadn't put there.

He carefully and very slowly and a bit wobbly on his feet – stood up and looked at the thing in the man's hand.

"You want this?"

A slow nod and now his nose was pouring again.

"Well come and get it then."

_Smug bastard._

He walked slowly forward moving his hand out in slow motion towards the thing they thought he needed, but now he was distracted by that pulse in the neck. He looked from the spoiled drugs to the neck and back again and wiped the blood off his face with the back of his hand. Getting closer. Almost within touching distance.

He was waggling it now trying to tempt him to get him to come closer.

_I'm not a sodding dog. _

The guy was watching the hand moving slowly towards the drugs, Floyd was watching the hand moving a bit faster but not so obviously towards the mans other arm.

It was a quick movement. Done so fast even a playback on the monitors would have been hard pressed to see exactly how he did it, but the drugs fell from dead hands as arterial spray hit the guard behind him in the face. The guard went down just as quickly but cleaner as the neck was snapped cleanly. He swooped down and picked up the gun stuffing it in rear of his waist band. He personally didn't need a gun, but if he could find Spencer, he might.

Lights blinked off as he walked down the passage way. He could smell people up ahead. He could hear their talking, but right now it was Spencer he needed to find. He didn't want them to use Reid as a weapon against him again. He pulled back into the shadows he had made and crouched down. His head was still spinning and his nose still bleeding. He stayed still and pinched the bridge of his nose and tipped his head back. He felt the blood run down the back of this throat and he swallowed gratefully. Now his senses were clearer and he took in a deep breath. He could smell Spencer and he could smell Spencer's fear.

He ran fingers through dirty hair. To get to Reid he would have to pass an open door full of people with guns. If they suddenly came out he wouldn't be able to stop them. He knew he didn't have the strength to fight the bullets. Not today – and he was sure they would all be head shots and then they would take his Spencer and that just wasn't permitted. He needed insurance against this going horribly wrong.

_Doubting your abilities today Floyd. What is happening to you? Go on then contact someone, just don't make a habit of it. You are becoming weak Floyd, you are becoming like them._

Floyd pulled back as far into the shadows as he could and still crouching looked down and closed his eyes.

…………………….

Aaron and Derek were down on the parking level. It was time to leave but Hotch really didn't feel like going once again back to that empty house.

"Morgan, fancy coming back to my place to talk about all this? A drink and pizza on offer."

As Morgan started to nod both he and Hotch put hands to their hands and Hotch went down to his knees whereas Morgan grabbed onto the side of the car. Both of them started nose bleeds and both of them had images shooting through their minds.

Reid shackled and bleeding

Floyd drugged and bleeding.

Men with guns and needles.

Faces of people

Building layout.

A tall thin guy with yellow teeth.

Reid being dragged away.

Blood lots of blood.

It stopped as quickly as it started and Morgan stared at Hotch. "What the hell was that?!"

"That was Floyd." Hotch wiped the blood from under his nose. "I am sure he will do that again."

"How?! What?! Just that can't happen!" Morgan too wiped blood away.

"What can and can't happen doesn't really count for much with Flanders. Hopefully you will never have to find out. Now back to my place I think because if that happens again I think we should be together and I want us to be able to compare notes on what we just saw. If we saw the same things. I'll drive."

"Hotch man wait! What if that happens again? Whatever 'that' was."

A quick glance at Derek. "Then let us be quick."

…………………….

Floyd pulled himself down to be as small as he could and moved forwards. Each scuttle forwards accompanied by his fingers resting on the floor and his head cocked slightly to the side.

He loved to hunt.

This was totally fabulous.

He just couldn't afford for one tiny error.

_Why would there be an error Floyd? Doubting your self again. It must stop or you will fail._

A smirk as he reached the open doorway behind which was an enemy he needed – for now – to avoid. Hotch would have not been overly surprised at the speed he moved. Morgan would have probably rubbed his hands over the back of his head. Prentiss - she would have started to say something and then stopped herself. Rossi would have made a note in his book – but they weren't there to see the blinding speed Floyd moved and the men in the room saw nothing but a slight flash out of the corner of their eyes, explained by the flashing bulb slowly dying in its holder.

And now to find Spencer.

* * *

_Society will forever judge hunters by their compassion for the animals they hunt: -__ Jim Slinsky

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_


	10. Chapter 10 The Room

The Room

_Léon: - How do you know it's love if you've never been in love before?_

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

He slithered through the shadows inhaling the slightly stale air. They were underground, he was sure of it. Why do they always take you underground? What is it with these people? Do they have no imagination? Floyd was sure he would choose somewhere high. Somewhere out of reach by its height rather than depth. Stupid people. Pathetic.

A metal door much like the one he had just escaped his way from. Faint smells but Spencer wasn't here anymore. He had been, but then had been moved. Floyd could still smell the fear.

_Quicker move quicker, they will find the bodies soon, not like you tried to hide them, they are laying in an open door way. _

He found the wooden door and he put his fingers gently against it. Spencer was the other side of this door.

Shouts from back where he had come from let him know that they had found the bodies.

_Crap._

Decision. Quickly. Get Spence and hope they don't catch up or leg it and try to get co-ordinates to the agents. He looked at the door.

_Sorry Babes._

And turned and started to run.

_Crap!_

Again he turned and went back to the door quickly sliding open the locks and entering a pitch black room. He pushed the door shut and putting his hand against the door heard the locks slide back into place.

"Spence. I'm here."

A moan from next to the wall. He moved in quickly and grabbed hold of him.

"It's OK." He muttered as he knelt down next to Reid and put a hand out touching his hair. Floyd recoiled slightly from the cold dampness he felt and put his fingers to his face to smell what this was. A mixture of fluids from various places. He moved his hand back again. "Spencer, can you hear me?"

A moan in reply.

…………………………

He lay in darkness. The void was gone and he felt he was back somewhere cold and dark. Terror swept over him as he again felt things crawling over him and now burrowing under skin. He scratched and clawed at the places the things entered his body. There was no energy left to do more than the slight moan or intake of sobbing breath. He could feel again that he had opened his wounds with his long fingernails and could feel blood trickling from his arms and across his chest. They were invading him like an insect would a corpse. They were eating at him. Eating him alive and there was nothing he could do except lay there and scratch and scratch and claw at his skin trying to make it go away. Ultimately his mind went to statistics and attempted to work out how long he had before these creatures took his life but it was impossible to estimate. He didn't know how many or what they were.

His ear was bleeding, and he could feel his eyes bleeding where the creatures insisted on trying to get to. Spencer clawed at his eyes and made himself sick to try to get the things out which had crawled up his nose and into his mouth – but he knew he was only delaying the inevitable and eventually lay still and let the things run through him.

Spencer lay motionless, just moaning occasionally as he felt his flesh being eaten away.

He sensed rather than saw the door open, and a sudden shaft of light cutting through the darkness. If he had opened his eyes he might have felt differently about this situation, but if he opened his eyes the things would land on them and blind him instantly.

Reid felt someone reach out and touch him. A gentle unknown hand and now a voice talking to him.

"Spence – talk to me babes."

"Floyd? What are you doing here?"

"I came to get you, but I don't know that it's going to work. I'll stay with you. It's going to be OK."

Spencer felt Floyd's arms around him and he could feel him lay down on the floor behind him. "These people know us." He could feel hands pulling him closer.

"Not well enough Spence or I wouldn't be with you now."

Slowly the feeling of things crawling over him dissipated and he felt he could breathe without sucking insects down into his lungs. "They knew about the dark."

"Yes, they know a lot, but you don't need to worry. Just relax. I am working on a way to get us both out of here." And he slid the gun out of the back of his waistband and passed it over to Reid's hand. "Just in case OK?" He felt a small nod in return.

Floyd's mind now raced back to the samples they had taken from him. He started to bury his face into back of Spencer's neck and give him some comforting nibbles when he heard the locks on the door slide open.

"Babes stay still. Just don't move. Don't even twitch."

"Floyd?"

"Hush now."

Floyd stayed with his arms tightly around Reid and watched as the light shot across the floor. Felt Reid's breathing getting quicker and he heard the sound of guns being readied. This is exactly what he didn't want to happen. Whatever they had injected into him and given him to smoke was what he was going to blame of his totally failure in judgment here. He should have run. He could have had Hotch on his way by now but his mind had been too firmly fixed on the hunt.

"Get up and move away from him." A stern voice Floyd chose to ignore. He held Reid tighter.

"I will get us out. Don't worry. Just play dead." Whispered into the back of Reid's neck.

Floyd glanced up and saw five men pointing guns at him. "Get up and move away."

"Make me." He watched as the guns moved away from him and pointed at Spencer. "OK…that'll do the trick." He moved his hands away. "Keep your eyes closed – just don't watch." Whispered as he pulled slowly away and then to the men in the room "I would like to know the reason you did this."

"Stand!"

Floyd slowly got to his feet. "I know what you want. This is un-necessary."

"You don't decide what is necessary and what isn't Mr Franks."

"FLANDERS! My name is Flanders. Why do you insist on calling me Franks."

He moved slowly. The hunter needed to pick off the weakest of the herd or the one with the biggest gun in this case. He side stepped away from Spencer.

"We call you Franks because according to our records that is your name."

Another small step. Watching the guy with the shot gun.

"Your information is incorrect. My name was changed. You must've tapped into an old database. Fire your techie."

Spencer had remained motionless on the floor. This was good. It meant their attention was on him rather than Spencer. "Our information is correct."

"You still haven't told me what breaking Dr Reid has to do with what you are doing to me." Another step.

"It had nothing to do with you Mr Franks. Why assume that everything has to do with you. Rather conceited don't you think?"

Another step. Nearly close enough now. "Maybe."

And now he was in the perfect position. Shielding Reid and in range of the shotgun.

………………….

Hotch drove a bit too fast. His head was still pounding and Morgan just sat in silence. Aaron could tell this wasn't going to sit well with the tough straight thinking agent. Blinkered maybe…Not ever accepting of concepts he was unfamiliar with. Or maybe just unaccepting of anything to do with Flanders. Hotch thought that more likely.

He pulled up into the drive and Morgan was still staring out of the window.

"Morgan .." Hotch started.

"Let's get in the house shall we. Compare 'notes' or visions – whatever the hell it was."

They slid from the car and entered Hotch's big empty house. Even Derek could sense the deserted feel it had.

"Help yourself to a drink, Morgan, I will stick a pizza in the oven."

Morgan nodded and entered the lounge flicking on the light as he went. A thin layer of dust covered things in here. Morgan resisted the need to write something in the dust and made his way to the bottle of whiskey and the tumblers. Aaron walked back in the lounge and stood behind Morgan. Derek didn't much like too much bodily contact with men. Sure sometimes, but a guy standing too close behind him creeped him out somewhat. He spun around quickly almost dropping the decanter of whiskey.

"Gee man you made me jump. Don't sneak up on a brother like that!"

Hotch gave a small half smile and took the decanter. "I'm sorry Morgan." And a sigh.

Derek didn't know what the hell that had all been about, but Hotch had purposefully invaded his personal space there. Was he testing him? Seeing how he would react? Did he know what happened with Floyd? Hell – what did he know? A big swallow and he went and sat in an arm chair. Thoughts of Flanders had made him feel decidedly uncomfortable. The idea that he was in trouble and had alerted them for help sent a twist through his abdomen.

"Hotch – what the hell is going on? What is Flanders up to? What's with all these visions crap?"

But Hotch didn't answer. He fell first to his knees and then to the floor holding his head and howling in pain. Blood poured from his nose again he was mumbling something incoherent and as Derek moved quickly forwards to help Hotch a buzzing started in his ears, followed by a long drawn out scream from somewhere inside his head.

…………………….

Shotgun: Broken neck. Clean and quick. Probably didn't feel a thing.

Hand gun in black shirt: Neck. Sweet tasting. Vegetarian. Hoped it hurt as his throat got torn out.

Hand gun in white Tshirt: (that colour was a mistake my dear) Groin! With hands. Simple. But you need to be fast and not mind what you touch.

Club: Oh please! What was he going to do with that? Tickle him? Bite, bite nibble dead.

He was pulled out of his reverie by a pain in the side of his head. He stopped and turned slowly. He could feel blood trickling down the side of his face.

"Next one goes in Dr Reid."

_Hotchner, Morgan. Get here. Fast._

Yellow teeth was standing pointing the gun at Spencer who was still laying motionless on the floor.

"He's dead. Do what you want with him. – but I am going to devour your heart and take your soul back to hell with me."

As Floyd pounced the gun fired.

* * *

_Pauly:- C'mon, asshole! C'mon faggot. C'mon, gun trick_. (_Léon)

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	11. Chapter 11 Target Practice

Target Practice

_Computers have enabled people to make more mistakes faster than almost any invention in history, with the possible exception of tequila and hand __guns__: - __Mitch Ratcliffe _

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

It was a clean through and through.

Blood sprayed up the wall.

Floyd just stood staring at the guy with yellow teeth who was still standing with his gun pointing at Spencer. He hadn't fired his weapon yet and probably wouldn't. No real need to now.

Floyd heard a gasp from Reid and he wanted to turn and look at him and let him know it was going to be alright. That this was but a minor set back. Getting shot in the neck by your lover was nothing.

Absolutely nothing! You stupid bastard! You shot the wrong person!

Down to his knees with a hand up to his throat. Won't be talking for a while thanks to the wonderful marksmanship of Dr Bleeding Spencer Reid!

Arterial spray. The neck.

Not good. Definitely not good.

"Floyd!" He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Oh god what have I done?"

He wanted to tell him he really did but with most of his neck blown away his vocal abilities had been marred slightly. Again he tried to turn and look at Spencer. Really – in all real honesty – what the hell was he thinking of giving the kid a gun? He could feel Spencer's hands on his back and fingers through his hair.

_It's OK Spence. _

_Don't worry._

_I will be fine._

_Hotchner will be here soon_

_Just do what they ask._

_Keep yourself safe._

_And when you get out of here –_

_Get Aaron to take you down the range._

Quick fire thoughts blasted so suddenly into Reid's head that he fell backwards.

…………………..

Spencer aimed the gun at the UnSub and pulled the trigger just as Floyd pounced. The bullet aimed at the guy with the yellow teeth, Reid watched in horror, as it made a big red hole in the back of Floyd's neck and blood sprayed up the wall. The gun dropped from his fingers as he moved slowly almost as though he was crawling in mud towards Flanders who was now going down to his knees. "Floyd! Oh god what have I done!" and moving his hands over Floyd's back not knowing what to do. He ran his fingers through Floyd's hair. He knew he could take a lot of damage, but he had been healing so much recently he didn't think he could take much more. At least it wasn't his head.

Something creeping into his mind. Something needing to be said. Reid opened up a crack and got a blasting. An uncontrolled scream of words from Floyd. They came so fast and suddenly that Reid was knocked back away from Floyd, and half laying half kneeling he watched as the man who had come here to protect him slide silently over into a pool of blood.

The UnSub stepped over Floyd and grabbed Reid by the arm. "I have a job for you." And a smirk "Oh and thank you for preparing him so well." He dragged Reid through the pool of blood getting bigger around Floyd's head. He could see eyes staring into nothing as he was pushed down to the floor again. "Strip him."

Reid looked up at the guy with the teeth. "No."

Grabbed by the hair his head pulled back and yellow teeth virtually touching Reid's lips. "I told you to strip him!"

He grimaced with the pain as he felt hair getting ripped out of his scalp. "I won't do it."

"I'm not giving you a choice! I am telling you what to do boy! You will strip him – and you will do it now."

Reid looked into the eyes – green eyes – of the UnSub. "No." He wanted to say more but fear and panic would have shown too much in his voice. He had started to shake and he wanted to be very sick but he needed to keep under control. Remember what he is – what he used to be. What he failed at being. Hands grabbed him around the throat and pulled him to his feet. He felt his body being slammed against the wall, but he couldn't tear his eyes off the damage he had just done. _Why the neck? Why there for gods sake?! Why not the arm or the leg?_ A moan escaped from between dry lips. He was horribly dehydrated. He didn't like to think how long since had last had a drink and now the air was not reaching his lungs.

Spencer ripped his eyes away from Floyd and he looked at the man who was slowly strangling him. It took all his effort but his hands slowly came up and wrapped around the UnSubs neck. Reid used his remaining strength to push the man away from him and was rewarded by one of the hands being removed and then as a fist it made contact with Reid's mouth. His head cracked back onto the brick wall and he slid safely back into that nice place called 'the void'

………………….

The UnSub watched with a look of disgust on his face as Spencer dropped to the floor in a crumpled heap. That one dealt with he could turn his attention back to the enigma he liked to call Franks. (because he knew it annoyed him oh so much.) The problem was now that this murdering turd had killed most of his men and the few he had left wouldn't go in the same room as him. Not afraid. Just not stupid.

He really hadn't expected there to have been so much carnage. He picked up the weapons and slid them out into the corridor. Next he pulled each of the men out of the room. Lastly he grabbed Floyd by an ankle and took him back to the white room he had previously been in. On the way he called for flexicuffs and a straight jacket.

…………………

Aaron picked himself up from the floor and looked over at Morgan. "Something is very wrong. I have had thoughts – small messages from him before, but this is something new. He is trying to tell us where he is, but he needs to give us co-ordinates. Morgan what, if any, information did he manage to get through to you. I was getting 'underground, old building, scientists.' Were you getting something similar? "

Morgan was just staring back at Hotch. He might have paled down a shade or two it was hard to tell. "I think you burnt the pizza." Was all he said as he picked himself up off the floor.

"The pizza?" Hotch frowned.

"We need to stop with the mumbo jumbo crap Hotch. I'm sorry. We are not going to find them that way. Garcia is collating what she has found and will let us know. Are you going to take the pizza out of the oven?"

Hotch pushed himself up and sat on the sofa. "The oven turns its self off. It's not – as you put it – mumbo jumbo - Morgan. I don't know what it is and I would love to be able to dismiss it as easily as you seem to be able to but one of our men is missing out there…."

"Whoah there Hotch. Reid isn't one of our men." Pouring a large amount of whiskey into a tumbler and passing it to Hotch. "He doesn't work for us anymore remember?"

A big sigh and a big drink from the tumbler. "It doesn't change the facts that Reid is missing."

"And it is only Reid you are worried about?" Morgan was sitting on the comfy chair again.

Hotch looked over at him. "No. I am worried about Flanders too." A shake of the head. "Don't expect me to explain it. I can't."

Derek looked deeply into the bottom of his glass. "He attempted to seduce me. I helped him shower. After the stuff in the museum and he – well he wanted more than a back rub. I was for a small while tempted. What is it with that man? How can he manipulate like that? After my history and it was still a temptation. I actually - no it doesn't matter. I just don't know what to make of him anymore."

Hotch was listening carefully. "So he got to you too. I'm sorry Morgan." Another swig of drink. "Garcia needs to hurry up. Give her a call. We should be out looking for them, not sitting here drinking and getting all melancholy over Flanders. Again I feel this is his doing. I just wish he was on our side. He did a good job on the cannibal case. That extra information he gave us caught the UnSub. Maybe if we didn't fight with him all the time…"

"Hotch! Listen to what you are saying! The man, the serial killer, cannibal, pervert – whatever is dead! He killed himself. We cremated him and now you want him on the team? What the hell is going on?"

"Call Garcia. Just a small amount of information will be somewhere to start."

…………………….

Spencer awoke alone. The lights were on and there was a bottle of water. There was also a big pool of blood. He tried to think, to remember what had happened but it was gone. A big sigh and he picked up the water. He was so thirsty. He looked at the blood and wondered whose it was. Unscrewing the cap he put the bottle to his lips and tipped back his head. The wonderful cold water slipped down the back of this throat and over his tongue. He licked his lips and pulled himself tightly up into a corner away from the mess on the floor. More water trickled down his neck. He tried to conserve it before and they just took it from him. This time he would drink it quickly –

His head started to swim and his vision started to cloud over. It felt like something had filled his lungs with cement. He tried to breathe but he couldn't draw in even the tiniest amount. He could feel his skin tingle and though he couldn't breathe he didn't seem to be dying. Just severe pain. Excruciating agony winding its way over his body. His skin on fire his eyes felt like they would explode he would have screamed but he had no breath to make a noise with. So he lay with his mouth open screaming silently as the poisons seeped through his system.

…………………..

They took more samples from Floyd of his blood and of other bits. A sample of his hair, nail clippings, and a tear.

………………….

_I am aware. Almost aware. Almost alive. Not quite dead. I can recover. This is fine. It wasn't Spence's fault. It could happen to anyone. _

_They are touching me and doing things with my body. Why can't they just leave me alone? To either fade away or to heal. Either way – whatever happens – I will kill him and if he dares hurt Spence, then the death will come slowly and very very – well being skinned alive was a favourite pastime. It's time I started doing that again. Out in the woods, alone, making my dolls, and having lunch with my favourite toy. Yes it is time for an unwrapping.

* * *

_

_To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness__: - __Robert Muller

* * *

_

_(Well I don't feel too bloody happy right now! FFF)

* * *

_


	12. Chapter 12 In Hell

In Hell Nobody Can Hear You Scream

_Hell is a place, a time, a consciousness, in which there is no love__: - __Richard Bach_

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine. Floyd Flanders Franks is.

* * *

The stood around the microscopes and test tubes and bubbling vats of things and frowned. There were only four people left alive including he who seemed to be the boss of this disastrous operation into the minds and bodies of Dr Spencer Reid and Floyd Franks (middle name dropped for the sole purpose of annoying said Mr Franks and getting him to react.) Right now though thanks to the ever resourceful Dr Reid, Franks was incapacitated and restrained properly and he him self was suffering from hallucinations which would most likely completely kill off what was left of his fragile sanity. He really wasn't reacting well to what they had put in his water. Their only slight worry was that it was be fatal, but they were not overly concerned about Dr Reid. He was after all just an after thought. Something they could mess with Franks with and if he died, well they would have to do without him and just carry on watching his odd person who was so insistent on being called Flanders.

Again they looked in the microscope and frowned. They all took turns and they scratched heads and gave each other wondering looks and then returned to the microscope again. Someone made notes on paper, to ensure that Franks couldn't mess with anything and also entered data onto the computer.

He should have been dead.

Probably they should both be dead. Maybe Dr Reid had previously had a taste of what they gave him. This was interesting. Though they were very sure that the young ex-agent (drug abuse and a fragile mind got him kicked from the FBI) had never had a dose this high in one blast.

Now they sat and watched the monitors and smiled rather smugly to themselves. Franks failed rescue attempt. They still were unsure why he didn't run. They were trying to figure out what made him stay behind and try to protect something he had been abusing for so long.

…………………

Finally Hotch and Morgan had something concrete to go on. They ambulance they thought most likely to have left with Reid aboard had been caught on speed cameras heading north. It had been flagged four times as speeding but with no emergency lights. At least they now had a general direction it had gone in, which was one hundred percent more than they had before.

"Thank you baby girl." Morgan said just before snapping his phone shut again. "We need a map."

Hotch got up from the couch where he had been getting a little too comfortable and put his empty glass on the table. Morgan gave him a quizzical look but said nothing. This was so unlike Hotch. There was more going on in his mind that he was willing to divulge right now. Derek would get to the bottom of this eventually. He was sure it had something to do with Flanders, maybe those messages_. 'Derek there were no messages. Get a grip. It was some kind of group hallucination brought on by – something else you can't explain. It was not a message from Flanders.'_

Aaron pulled out a map from the book shelves and unfolding it placed it on the table. Together they marked where the hospital was and then the freeway were the ambulance had been spotted by the cameras.

"Probably some old deserted building." Hotch said running his finger north and looking out for industrial estates and the such.

"Why deserted? It could be anywhere. We have no idea where they are or even for that matter if they are together."

Aaron looked up at Derek. "He said underground. Old building."

"Hotch man, listen to yourself! You are trusting the word of a dream, or whatever it was?" Morgan began pacing. "I am going to take a shower if that is OK. I don't want to appear to be out of line here Hotch, but some strong coffee might be what you need." Derek waited for a nod and walked out of the room. He knew where the bathroom was so he was able to just leave Aaron kneeling at the coffee table looking at the map. _'Reid would have been useful right now. He's the one who's good with maps.'_

………………………

They hastily installed cameras in Spencers cell so that they could accuratley record what was happening to the young Doctor and watched Spencer lay staring into space. They had thus far recorded six seizures. They had amongst their reams of information that Reid had suffered from seizures in the past. This could be another reason that Strauss had insisted on him leaving. He was twitching slightly and breathing in small short shallow breaths. Occasionally he would move or roll over onto his back or side making small whimpering moaning sounds. It seemed to the people watching on the monitors that Dr Reid had been very easy to damage and now their interest was in how he would recover from this. If he did.

…………………….

He tried to open his eyes, but this was death. He was sure of it now. This was it for eternity. This was his punishment for being a failure. For sending his mum away, for all the trouble he had caused over such a short period of time. This was his punishment for nearly taking Floyd's head off with that gun. An eternity here in a blood smeared room with no food or water or stimulation of any kind. He still couldn't breathe. His lungs he thought just didn't need to work anymore. There was no need when you are in some kind of hell. Not that he had any belief in that sort of thing, but how else do you explain being dead and yet still being able to think and move.

Spencer rolled over again. Maybe if he thought hard enough this will change. He would be taken somewhere else. Somewhere where the memory of what he had done wasn't there staring at him in the face.

Maybe if he apologised enough, maybe if he begged forgiveness. With no breath he was unable to make words form. He was stuck.

Reid could see his fingers twitching and so for a while lay and concentrated on them and thought over and over.

_Floyd I am sorry._

_Floyd I am sorry._

_Aaron please find him._

_Aaron I am so sorry._

Maybe, just maybe whilst dreaming someone would hear him and he will be forgiven.

……………………..

Floyd lay motionless. He was awake but there was no point or need in trying to move again. He had to heal. He had to heal this mess quickly and so far he wasn't being very successful. He was straightjacketed again, and now his feet were bound with flexicuffs. Blood had soaked into the front of the jacket making it uncomfortable and now that the warmth had gone it was cold.

'_Back where you started you fool. You should have left Spence and got out. They have no reason to kill him. He would have been alright.' _He tried to move his toes. He wanted to curl and uncurl them. It was a strange form of comfort for him, but right now he couldn't move so he lay still. He had the horrible thought that his neck was broken. If this was the case then healing was going to take a long long time and rescue would take longer and so for now he just lay in the mess his body secreted and tried to think of a way to tell Agent Aaron Hotchner where he was, or maybe that Morgan. Maybe it was he who needed the blast of information. It could be him who was preventing the grand rescue. The cavalry racing over the hilltop in their black SUV's and shades.

'_You know full well why you didn't run Floyd. Why do you try to pretend there is nothing there? Why do you constantly forgive that bit of filth you hang out with? Could it be something to do with that uncomfortable twist in your stomach when you think of him in danger? Could it have something to do with your needs overriding your common sense? Primal instinct is your answer there.'_

Again he tried to move but all he could manage was a slightly resigned smirk, so he rebooted their system and sent out a message.

……………………

Agent Derek Morgan was standing under the hot water enjoying the feel of the powerful spray over his body. Again he got that strange buzzing in his head. He shook his head trying to get rid of it and noticed a spray of blood hitting the shower door. His nose was bleeding again and the buzzing got more insistent. When the words finally formed in Derek's stubborn mind they screamed at him.

_Morgan!_

_Listen to Aaron._

_Spencer needs you._

_Help him._

_Help them both._

The blast of words knocked Derek to his knees and he hit his head with a smack on the wall. "What the hell?!" Slowly he stood up and rubbed his head where he had just hurt it. He stood for a while thinking. The thoughts racing through his mind were not ones he would normally be thinking. It had only in his life happened once before and that was with….

He leapt from the shower and started to dry himself. His clothes he pulled over damp skin and after turning off the water he raced down the stairs to where Aaron was sitting looking at the drips of blood coming from his nose and hitting the map.

"Hotch. OK. Lets look at the map and think like Reid." As soon as he said those words a grin spread over his face. Now there's a frightening thought if there ever was one!

…………………………….

As the next seizure took hold the men watching the monitors looked at each other.

"Maybe something to stop that happening? Go give him something Culver." The man in the lab coat over the top of his suit got up and went to a cabinet. He selected a syringe and needle and a small phial. Sucking into the syringe and calculated amount he left the room.

They watched on as he entered the room with Reid. The seizure had subsided now and he was just laying on his side with his hands and feet twitching. His toes curling and uncurling. They watched Culver turn him onto his back and with a look of immense spite and pleasure on his face adjusted Reid's hospital style pyjamas and injected the liquid into Reid's groin. He stood and smiled as the pathetic creature pulled his legs up close to his body and let out a pitiful cry.

* * *

_The Criminologist__: - Emotion: Agitation or disturbance of mind; vehement or excited mental state: It is also a powerful and irrational master.

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_


	13. Chapter 13 Them

Them

_The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself: -__Friedrich Nietzsche_

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

When Flanders rebooted the system for the third time they decided it was time to do something about it. Just what though they didn't know, so a bit of gentle persuasion was needed.

One of them went to Reid's room and pulled him by his feet so that the camera had a good angle.

One of them went to Floyd's room and set up a lap top on the floor for him to look at. They knew in his condition he couldn't move – yet, so this all had to be done quickly.

………………………

Floyd lay looking into a dark well. It's where he put him mind when he needed to heal something like this. Broken necks were a bitch to heal, and needed him to concentrate. Rebooting their system was a way to get rid of the monotony of laying not able to move.

He pulled back from his place and watched as the lap top was placed where he could see it. The blank screen fizzed into life and there was Spencer laying drooling looking at nothing. Eyes staring off into the distance. He wanted to shout at them. He wanted to tell them that the little freak meant nothing to him, but he couldn't talk so he lay and watched the screen.

Yellow teeth came into the room with Culver.

The teeth spoke.

"You are being a real pain to us Franks. How are we meant to do our work when you constantly mess with our computers?"

Floyd's eyes flicked from the monitor to the teeth.

"It will stop. Every time you mess with us we shall mess with you."

And the beating started. Floyd refused to close his eyes, but he also refused to watch what they were doing to Spencer. The cameras fed back picture and sound. The small moans and sighs coming from Reid Floyd could tell were because he was unable to cry out. In the past when he had kicked Spence in the stomach like that he had howled in pain and now the back and the kidneys. Floyd pulled himself back into the dark healing well. The only way he could help now was to get better and not react to what was happening. He didn't want to see the way his hair flopped over his face as his head snapped back by the force of the kick to his jaw.

_Sorry Spence._

If anything else happened Floyd didn't see. He would not be dragged down by emotions. This was not the way things worked. Let them have Spence. There were plenty more pretty boys out there. He had proven that over and over again. Reid was just flavour of the month – replaceable. Nothing special. Now he closed his eyes trying to make what he was thinking come true.

………………………..

Spencer didn't quite know what he had done wrong. He had hardly moved since he had been left here, but now he was being kicked.

He couldn't see who it was but it felt like Floyd and his mind made it sound like Floyd. He could smell him. That special smell oozing from beneath his skin and Spencer longed to say sorry but the final kick to his face sent him spinning back into the void. Here at least for now he was safe.

The pain.

The screaming unmentionable pain shot through him.

His back arched and suddenly his lungs opened and accepted air.

Faintly in the background he could hear Floyd again "Ok stop. He's back."

………………………

They watched on the monitors as Reid crawled to the corner of the room and pulled his legs up close and wrapped his arms tightly around them. His face had big bruise on the chin and the side of his mouth. Again his lip was split and his spirit finally – they thought – broken.

They looked satisfied and slightly smug.

"This is working out better than I thought it would. I think it is time we started the next phase for Dr Reid."

…………………….

The two of them drove north. They followed the route given by Garcia and they travelled in silence each surrounded by their own thoughts. When they reached the last reported sighting Hotch pulled over and looked at Morgan.

"I am aware that you don't like what is going on here Morgan, but I am going to have to try something. I know it works with Reid, but he might be a special case. There however is no harm in trying this but I am giving you the option to get out of the car. I'm not going to drive off and leave you, but if you don't want part of this 'trial' then I understand fully and I don't want to force you into doing something you don't want to do."

"What are you going on about?"

Aaron gave Morgan a look which conveyed absolutely nothing. "I am talking about this communication thing."

Derek frowned. "You are right I don't like it. I don't understand it but – well if you want to try." A shrug. How could he explain to Hotch that he had received some kind of contact when in the shower without letting him know what that communication consisted of. Fully consisted of.

Aaron nodded. "I have no idea how to do this but maybe if he can sense our – sorry – my thoughts he can communicate back."

"Wait. You said Reid can do this mind melding stuff? Why not contact him?" An inner shudder at what he was saying here. This was science fiction X-Files stuff, not real life.

Aaron closed his eyes and leaned his head on the steering wheel with a wad of tissues to hand.

………………………

Floyd watched as they put the paddles to Reid's chest. He watched his back arch and slam back down to the floor. He didn't understand why he was finding this so hard to block. It must be – he reasoned with himself – that it was purely because he was so badly damaged himself that all energy was being put into his healing.

He would be damned if this scene was going to upset him. He was not going to let them use someone against him. The sooner they knew this the sooner they would leave Spencer alone. He watched someone he used to know but now was unrecognisable crawl into a corner and hold himself tight. The only way he ever received a hug without something being required in return.

Now Floyd was angry again. He tried to curl his toes but still they wouldn't move. He tried to wiggle fingers but they too were still and lifeless.

He wanted to scream at them but because of Reid he wasn't even able to curse at them. There was only one thing he could do and it was at risk of them hurting Spence again, but – remember- Floyd – don't forget – Spencer is replaceable.

As were Leon, and Jacob, and Matthew, and sweet, sweet Anthony. Now a rage building up inside he did all he could.

Floyd rebooted the system.

He lay there and waited for them to arrive. Whatever they decided to do now they were sure to let Floyd know but there was nothing. No angry demands that he stop. No door swinging open and heavy feet on the floor. Nothing. Just frustrating silence.

………………………..

"Damn the man!" the techie stood up and slammed his fist onto the counter. "I thought you had that sorted. I can't do my job if he keeps messing with the computers."

Yellow teeth looked over at him. "If I knew how to stop it I would have by now. When it resets leave the cameras off in that room. Maybe he can only do it via a live connection. Keep it dead."

He turned to the lab technician. "Are you and Culver ready?"

"Yes sir. Whenever you wish to start."

The yellow teeth showed a happy grin. "Well let's get on with it then."

……………………

Spencer watched them walk over to him. One of them was holding something. They all had grins much bigger than their faces should be able to make. He felt them grab his feet and pull him out of the corner. He didn't resist. There was no point. There was nothing left to fight with. One man put a hand on Reid's shoulder and looked deep down into his eyes.

"Can you hear me?"

He bit on his bottom lip in reply.

"Good. This is unfortunately going to hurt but there is not other way to do this and painkillers at this point will completely spoil the whole thing. I am going to insert a needle into your spine and inject a substance of an experimental nature. I just thought I should warn you – the side effects could be somewhat – unpleasant."

"What is it?" His voice low and soft.

"Best described as essence of Floyd Flanders Franks I would think."

"Please d don't." His eyes were impossibly large.

"Sorry, not open for debate."

Spencer was turned over onto his stomach. He tried for a very small while to resist but a hard foot on the back of his neck stopped him moving.

"You must be still Dr Reid. I am sure you know the damage that could be done if we accidentally sever nerves in your spine. So be good and keep still."

Reid lay looking at the wall and bit on his bottom lip until he could taste blood. He wasn't going to give these animals the satisfaction of him crying out in pain. He felt the needle enter his back. He felt the fire shooting through his nerves and his eyes rolled back as he passed out unable to take the pain. They left him there with a bottle of water and again some bread soaked in sweet milk. Interestingly his limbs were not twitching and his eyes were closed. They made note or this.

…………………………

Floyd lay as he had done for hours. Staring at nothing trying to heal. Still nothing. This was taking too long. He needed to start moving. Damn you Spencer!

Then it hit him like a tidal wave.

_Flanders._

_Where are you?_

_Help us out here._

_We need directions._

_Can you hear me?_

Aaron?

* * *

_For every man there exists a bait which he cannot resist swallowing. To win over certain people to something, it is only necessary to give it a gloss of love of humanity, nobility, gentleness, self-sacrifice - and there is nothing you cannot get them to swallow. To their souls, these are the icing, the tidbit; other kinds of souls have others: -__Friedrich Nietzsche

* * *

_**A/N: My computer is being a silly arse today. Excuse typos please. (throws naff keyboard across the room)

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**


	14. Chapter 14 The Flanders Effect

The Flanders Effect

_It is impossible to suffer without making someone pay for it; every complaint already contains revenge: - __Friedrich Nietzsche_

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

When Spencer opened his eyes at first he thought nothing had really changed. He wondered where Floyd was and what he was doing. He rolled over onto his back and grinned. Memories of a happy past shot through his brain. His smile got bigger. Toes curling in time with the soft moanings he was making.

These thoughts were making Spencer feel slightly uncomfortable. Usually this only happened when he was with Floyd. For it to be happening without him to drain him of them was not something he had experienced before. Not to this extent. Yes the occasional twitch of need. But never this.

Slowly he got up. The pain in his feet forgotten. All he knew now was that he had to get to Flanders and he had to do it now. He walked quickly to the big door and started to hammer on it with his fist. Again all pain forgotten. Only one thing on his mind now, and only Floyd would be able to relieve him of it.

"Let me out of here!" He shouted as he hammered continuously on the door. His breathing heavy and hard. His eyes big and his lips slightly parted.

………………………

They watched this scene with raised eyebrows. This was not the effect they had been expecting. They had hoped for signs of a speedy recovery for the Doctor not this strange display of whatever it was.

"We could let him out. See what happens. He will be easily stopped and retrieved if he tries to escape. I am curious as to how what we did to him has caused this."

They walked down to where the hammering and yelling was coming from. Raised eyebrows all around and the door was quickly unlocked as they stepped away from it quickly, not wanting to be in firing range of Spencer's fists. They noted blood on his knuckles and the side of his hands. His eyes wide and a long slow lick of his lips.

He moved quickly down the corridor towards where Floyd was held. They watched him stop at the door and look at the ties holding the locks closed. Spencer turned to them. "Open the door." Fists clenching and unclenching. Toes curling – staring at Culver.

Culver nodded and moved carefully forward. "If you would move out of the way please Dr Reid so I can get the door open for you." Spencer stepped to the side trying to keep in visual range the other men standing back watching. When the ties were cut Spencer moved back in again. He pulled back the locks and pushed open the door. Two steps in and he slammed it shut again.

Boss ran back to the room with the monitors. "Quickly – I need Frank's cameras back on."

………………………

Reid stood and looked at Floyd laying on the floor unmoving. He walked slowly over to him and knelt down behind him. "Floyd?"

No reply. No nothing.

He walked around so he was in front of him and knelt down again now looking into Floyd's eyes which locked with his and stared back. "Floyd?" And a hand moved out and carefully touched Floyd's lips. A blink was his reply. Reid looked at the way they had trussed up Flanders and got up again and knelt behind him. Quickly with nimble fingers he started to undo the straps. Once undone he manoeuvred the jacket and Floyd so he could pull the contraption off him. He moved down to Floyd's feet and looked at the bindings they had put there. There was no sign that he had tried to get them off his feet which felt cold and lifeless. Spencer moved his fingers over the feet and slowly made his way up Floyd's body until he was kneeling in front of him again. He could smell that familiar Flanders scent.

"You know Floyd, I have often wondered what it was about my total incapacitation which made you do so much to me. Over the years it has become quite evident that you only really desire me when I am not able to respond to you." He pushed Floyd's hair off his face for him and smiled. "I had a horrible feeling that when they gave me this latest treatment. Some drug they are testing on me that my desire and need to be with you would result in much the same feeling." A thumb brushing Floyd's bottom lip. "But I don't. That wasn't what it was all about. My need to get to you so badly – with such intensity had nothing to do with rape or sex. It only had something to do with pain and humiliation." He put a hand on Floyd's shoulder and pushed him over onto his back. "So here it is, the thing with drives you - the thing which makes you who you really are – a murdering soulless creature only ever after one thing the pain and torment of others."

Reid moved down to Floyd's feet again. "I am so glad I shot you where I did. It hurts doesn't it? It hurts being unable to fight back." A big toothy grin. "Are you at all bothered about what I am going to do to you? I don't even know if you will feel it, which is a shame but I will know I have done it and it will make me feel oh so much better. Pain and pleasure, two things so closely connected only usually it is me in pain and you – well did you get any pleasure from it? Did it make you happy? I think I am about to find out."

He could see Floyd's lips moving but no sound came out and right now he wasn't interested in Floyd's silent apologies. He just wanted to hurt this person so much it was making him excited in so many ways. He let out a soft moan and pushed Floyd's feet up close to his body.

A deep breath taking in the heady musty smell of Floyd – and Reid stopped what he was doing and frowned.

…………………………

The small amount of communication Aaron had managed to get back hadn't really helped and now he wondered if he had imagined it. "I think we should just keep going north for now. See where it takes us. Either they left the freeway before the next set of cameras or the slowed down." Hotch started up the motor again and carefully slipped back into the traffic. "Keep an eye open Morgan, side exits going to an industrial estate or anywhere which looks disused and old."

Morgan looked out of the side window and sighed. "It might not be disused. It might not be what we are assuming. He said something about scientists so maybe some medical facility. Where maybe an ambulance pulling up might not seem quite as odd. Private hospitals, Research labs.."

"Get Garcia Morgan see if there is anything which even slightly fits that description is in this direction. The problem is that we don't really know how far away it is."

A nod from Morgan and he was talking to his Baby Girl on the phone.

………………………...

Reid moved slightly away from Flanders and just stood staring at him. A big swallow and he was kneeling at his side again. "What is it about you? How do you always manage to get what you want even when you cannot vocalize your needs to me? How do you turn someone so quickly? Is it just me? It's not is it?"

He received a smirk.

Reid moved again so he was straddling Floyd looking down at his bare chest. It still had marks on it from the GSW. Spencer ran his fingers slowly over the small healing dents in Flanders skin. He could see the pulsating wound in Floyd's neck and now he felt hands reach up and touch him on the arms. He felt he pressure of the newly revived fingers digging into his arms and the sudden movement behind him as Floyd pulled his legs up tighter. Now the hands were pulling Reid down towards him and Reid could feel fingers twisting in his hair forcing his face down towards Floyds waiting mouth. He twisted Reid's head to the side so the side of his face was almost pressing against Floyd's and then a very low strained whisper.

"Don't you ever threaten me boy. Get off me and sod off or I will knock your brains out and have you while you're still twitching."

Reid smiled to himself. "I would like to see you try. You can hardly move."

"Don't count on it. I am just – erm – playing with them."

"Really? You are laying in your own bodily fluids to _play_ with them?"

"Ah – that – just part of my plan."

"Your plan to do what? Lay here and stink?"

"You are getting over confident. You really need to mind that pretty little mouth of yours."

Reid pulled Floyd's fingers out of his hair. "And you need to mind yours. Babes." Reid ran his tongue over Floyd's lips.

"Get off me you fr…"

His words were cut off as Spencer ground his mouth against Floyd's and gave him a spiteful lip biting kiss. As Reid pulled away and smiled – Floyd spat blood in his face.

"You really shouldn't have done that. Babes." A smirk covered his face, but the spite in his eyes was cold and hard.

……………………….

They watched with curiosity as Flanders hands wrapped around Reid's throat and started to squeeze. They could hear quite clearly now the words being said. These words were not private. This was a public display. A big show.

They watched Reid's fist come back and attempt to catch Flanders on the mouth, but either it didn't hurt or Reid had no strength as Floyd didn't even blink. His full attention was on Spencer's eyes. Now Reid was trying to pull the strong calloused hands off his neck.

"I am going to squeeze until you stop struggling. You know that don't you. I am then going to do to you what you had mind of doing to me. Only Sunshine, I have been doing this for a lot longer." He gave Spencer a little shake and removed his thumbs to allow Reid to take a breath. "I know how to do it properly and not just carry out half hearted threats. I am going to really enjoy this. Such a nice gift to wake up to." A release of the thumbs again. "You not talking to me anymore? Babes?" Spitting his words at Reid who had stopped his struggle to escape now and let his arms hang by his side but he still had his big hazel eyes locked with Floyd's dark cold ones. "I expect you are regretting your decision to come down here aren't you?" A sharp intake of breath as Floyd's legs jerked suddenly and he pulled Reid right down close to his face again and whispered. "I am going to let you go. You are going to lay still on the floor. They haven't locked that door again. Just stay here, I will sort this out."

No reply from the face with slightly blue but beautiful lips. Floyd released his hold and kissed those lips gently. "Sorry if I hurt you there Spence. I get a bit rough sometimes. Needed it to look real though." With a final small yelp of pain one bloodied foot slipped from the flexicuffs. "OK…I am going – don't move. I want them to leave you alone. Spence."

There was no response and as Floyd released him he slid silently sideways to the floor.

* * *

_Go up close to your friend, but do not go over to him! We should also respect the enemy in our friend: - __Friedrich Nietzsche

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	15. Chapter 15 Finishing Touches

Finishing Touches.

_Nollie Gardner__: Town looks a little dead today. (Salem's Lot- Stephen King)_

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

They drove off the freeway towards the huddle of big old buildings. Some still in use, but mostly boarded up. It was a strange mix of residential and commercial. A couple of shops still seemed to be open, or at least not boarded up. Rubbish blew down the street and a dog ran across the road. The buildings were mostly high old brownstones with dirty steps leading up to broken in doors. All it lacked really was a kid singing Hard Knock Life. Deserted cars up on blocks scattered along the edge of the potholed road.

Morgan turned to look at Aaron. "OK this is strange."

Hotch had slowed right down and was looking for somewhere he could pull over to ask someone some questions about this odd place. There was a space outside a liquor store, so he pulled in and turned off the ignition. "I think you should stay with the car." Hotch was looking at all the wheel free vehicles.

Morgan nodded and pushed his jacket out of the way of his gun. Hotch slid out of the car and closed the door behind him. Morgan slapped down the locks.

Aaron moved his suit jacket away from his holster and walked into the shop. It was small and a bit smelly. The back wall was lined with coolers and the shelves stacked with six packs. There were four rows of shelving. Most of taken up by cheep booze and quick cook meals. The shop counter was to Aaron's right. A big old oak counter with a glass front. It was displaying a few pen knives and cigarette lighters (wind proof) with an eagle etched into the side. The racking behind the counter held various types of tobacco, batteries, headache pills, and a small selection of combs.

The person behind the counter was a lad of about eighteen. His face had a few marks and a collection of fresh pimples around his nose. He had on a T-shirt with 'Manson' written across the front and he had on a pair of slightly grubby jeans.

"Can I help you mister."

The accent sounded English. Hotch nodded and pulled out his FBI ID. "Can you answer some questions please?"

The lad looked out the dirty plate glass window at the big guy sitting in the big SUV parked outside.

"I didn't do it. Whatever you think I did." A hand wiped across his mouth.

"I need to know about the area." Looking the lad in the eyes.

"What –what about it? I don't know nothing."

Hotch tried a smile. "It's alright, you're not in trouble. I just need to know if there are any medical facilities around here. Or a clinic? Somewhere where ambulances go?"

A frown upon the teenagers face. "That Beckman bloke has an old ambulance. He picks up strays and stuff and takes them back and does stuff. That's what they say anyway. I keep well away from there. Don't want him mistaking me for no stray."

"Can you tell me where this place is – sorry I don't know your name – I am Agent Hotchner."

"Ben. I'm Ben. Yeah I can tell you where it is. Just don't you ask me to show you and don't you tell 'um who told 'ya."

A nod from Hotch. "I won't tell anyone. A um comb please." And Aaron pulled some money out of his wallet.

"What? OH! Yes mister. A comb, do you mind what colour?"

A shake of the head as a new red comb was placed on the counter. "Keep the change. Where is this place?"

………………..

Hotch got back into the car and started the engine. "Here, have comb." He sat the red comb on Morgan's knee. They pulled out onto the empty street and carried on down the deserted street.

"This place creeps me out." Morgan muttered.

……………….

He looked up and winked at the little red flashing light and as Reid fell silently Floyd stood and walked quickly to the door. He pulled it open and began what he considered would be the final attack on the sons of bitches who had kept him here. He let them know he was on the way. They heard him coming. They could hear his obscenities long before they could see the blood smeared animal they had been carrying out experiments on.

Floyd stood in the door way of what they called the control room and stared at them. "Dr Culver, get your arse over here now." Guns were raised in shaking hands as the colour drained from Culver's face. "I know who you are you son of a bitch. I know exactly who the hell you are!"

"Excuse me? Mr erm Mr Flanders?"

"Get your arse over here now Dr Culver I have a job for you." Culver began to walk slowly in the direction of Floyd. "Dr Reid is injured. Make him well and I might not tear you a new arsehole." Floyd stepped to the side to let the doctor go by. "If he dies, so do you, so have a care Dr Culver." He now turned back to the other three men. "You hurt me. You did me damage. You took bits of me and you really shouldn't have done that. If you wanted some of me I would have given you samples. Not maybe deposited where you would want but you would have definitely have received what you asked for. Now however things have changed – put those damned guns down – they won't stop me now. Here's the thing. You never really worked out what makes me tick did you?"

He started to walk into the room. A techie, a guy in a lab coat and the boss with the yellow teeth. Now to work out who was the weakest of this little herd.

"Well did you? What you gave Dr Reid, did it do what you expected? No it didn't did it. You have no comprehension as to what makes me what I am and what is more you never will." The techie would go first so he moved towards the monitors. "Only the shortest of whiles ago I was laying there unable to move, and now, well I have awoken from that – state – hungry and thirsty. I can quench my thirst on water but what to eat? " Touching distance of the techie. "You computer guy get up and move away." The man just sat and stared. "Count to five. Then I will have to remove you myself. Get up move away, run, sing a song, do whatever but get our sodding arse out of this room now."

Reg the computer technician got up and ran.

"And then there were two. You know if he comes back and tries to shoot me in the head or knock me out with a plank of wood, or an empty bottle I will be mighty cross, so if you see him tip toeing up behind me, you know - tell him to piss off." Short hard nods from the two remaining people. "Right – sorry, I don't think I know your names. I am – as you know fully well am Floyd Flanders – right now you in the lab coat. I need your name. I don't like to screw total strangers." Floyd's English accent was coming across strong. It usually did when he was in a state of agitation or extreme lust. This was both. He took a big step towards the lab tech. "Name! Now!"

"Grant. Dr David Grant."

A smirk. "Another doctor. This place is over run with them. You must pay well." Looking at the guy with the yellow teeth. "Name."

"Professor Henry Landis."

"Good, now we are all introduced I can get on with it and Davie my mate – put the bleeding gun down now." He watched Grant place the gun on a bench and he nodded and smiled at him. "Good. Henry my dear. Take a seat." Indicating one about five foot away. "And Davie come here and stand just in front of me." Landis sat and Grant moved with a look of intense fear over to where Floyd was standing grinning. "Right up close Davie – I want to feel you pressing against me. I want you to feel my breathing through your back." Grant moved back so he was virtually leaning on Floyd he could feel hot breath on the back of his neck and then a tongue over his ear.

Landis watched with a smirk on his face just glad it wasn't him Flanders was doing this to.

"Very good Davie, now I want you to remove your lab coat and drop your trousers." He felt the increased tension flood through Grant's body. "Now would be good." With clumsy shaking hands he did as he was asked. Landis still sat in silence. Floyd looked over to him pulling Grant up close to him again. "Henry – do you ever watch those crappy TV shows where you have professional do something and the poor saps watch, then they have to copy? You ever watch game shows like that Henry?" Big toothy Floyd smile.

A nod from Henry and a whispered "Yes."

"Yes? That was a yes wasn't it? I am so glad because I didn't want to have to explain the rules to you. It's so much easier when I don't have to. Right – listen carefully. I am going to do something and you need to watch, because when I have finished I am going to do it to you too and I really don't feel like explaining it all over again. Learning by example is so much easier, but then I am a visual learner." A ruffling of Grants hair. "So we are all set are we? Everyone know what they need to do? Fan- bloody – tastic!"

Landis watched Floyd's hands as they held Grant's head and shoulder and with a quick almost unseen twist then neck was snapped. Floyd quickly wrapped one arm around Davie and let him bend forwards. "This – is why – it is – so much – easier – for me – if you are – prepared." And now both hands wrapped around the body. "This is what you wanted to see me do wasn't it? This was what you wanted me to do to Dr Reid. Well you got – oh – you got me – all wrong."

"Evidently."

* * *

_Ash__: You still don't understand what you're dealing with, do you? Perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility.

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	16. Chapter 16 The Cavalry

The Cavalry

_Time, which changes people, does not alter the image we have retained of them: - Marcel Proust_

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

When Culver entered the room Reid was laying unmoving on the floor. He walked slowly over to the crumpled form and with nervous shaking fingers felt for a pulse on Reid's neck. It was faint but definitely there. This was a good start. Cautiously he touched Spencer's shoulder and rolled him onto his back. His eyes were open and the hazel eyes locked with his.

"It's alright Dr Reid. I am here to help you." His voice only slightly betrayed the fear he was feeling.

"Get you hands off me. Get out of the room. He sent you didn't he? I don't need your help." Reid replied in a low hiss. "Go – get out."

Now Culver was coming out in a sweat of panic. There was no way he was going to leave this room. If that monster out there saw him he would be torn apart like all the others.

"No – no one sent me, Dr Reid. I – I saw on the monitors that you were injured. I am a doctor. I came for help."

Reid took a deep breath. "Don't lie to me Culver. I can smell your deceit and I can smell your fear. I know he sent you."

Culver got back to his feet and started to back off. "OK – yes Fr – Flanders sent me, but I was going to come anyway."

Spencer slowly got to his feet. "Don't lie to me!" He was walking towards Culver. "What did you inject into my spine?"

Culver's eyes looked at Spencer then to the door and back again. "I – I just injected it. I don't know what it was."

"You Liar!" Reid was getting closer and Culver was looking at the door again. "I know I told you to get out of the room, but you know what? I have changed my mind. Get on your knees."

"You misunderstand. I am sorry, I didn't want to be here you know. I am as much a captive as you are. This isn't what I wanted." Culver's back was to the wall now.

"And that is why you are defying me now? That is why you won't get on your knees when you are told to? I think you would for Flanders would you not? Are you not afraid of me Culver? Do I appear too weak to be able to force you to do what I want? Are you going to take that risk?" Spencer's nose was almost in contact with Culver's now.

Slowly very slowly Culver shook his head and using the wall for support slid down to his knees. "Please. Please don't."

Reid looked down and frowned. "You are so lucky I am me and not Floyd. He would get you to do all sorts of fun things for him." Reid's knee hit him under the chin knocking him into darkness in one firm hit. Spencer stood looking at him for a while frowning and then walked out of the open door.

Reid could hear Floyd talking. He stood and listened for a while. Such a familiar tone in his voice – Spencer knew exactly what Floyd was going to do. His mouth twitched into an almost smirk and then he just walked on by the open door way not even looking in. If anyone saw him, no alarm was raised, and Floyd didn't come rushing out after him in one of his rages, so safe for now.

He looked up the flight of stairs with a door at the top and started the long climb. The door wasn't locked with a key, but had been bolted from the inside. He slid aside the big shiny bolt and pushed the door outwards.

Spencer squinted in the sudden daylight. He stood in the open doorway and took a few deep breaths of fresh air. Now looking around he saw he was amongst a small huddle of low grey prefab buildings. It looked like some kind of disused government establishment. He chewed on his bottom lip, then turned closing the door silently behind him. Barefoot and still wearing badly stained and blood splattered white pyjama bottoms he walked away from the sun. When he reached a big chain-link fence he walked counterclockwise looking for a gate. He didn't notice the stones digging into the bottom of his feet. He didn't seem to be feeling the sun blazing down on his back. As the sun struck his hair it lit up with a golden glow and he kept on walking running his fingers long the links of the fence and humming some old tune he had remembered from somewhere, or maybe half forgotten, or maybe never knew in the first place. He smiled at the thought of being able to forget a tune. Written words forever etched into his mind, but tunes he was occasionally permitted to forget, or at least file somewhere in him mind where retrieval wasn't so easy.

The gate finally arrived at was secured with chains, but obviously it was just to stop vehicles. The gap between the two rusting gate edges was large enough for Reid to slide through. But he was very skinny right now. Eating had not been high on his list of priorities for a while now. Again putting the sun to his back he started to walk. The road was lined on both sides by dead grass, the occasional dried up tree and boarded up single story dwellings. He stood looking at them for a while and tried to imagine what it had been like when people still lived here. Children playing in the street, kids bikes laying on the front lawns. Paedophiles driving by slowly trying to see up the little girl's skirts as they swung from the homemade swings hanging from the then healthy trees and boys with their bats and baseballs – there was also that kid who never got to go out to play much. That skinny kid with glasses. The one whose dad had run off and whose mum was a loon – the kid who stood looking out of the front room window talking to voices in his head.

He blinked and turned walking back down the road. The sidewalk paving was broken with dried weeds poking through the edges where once they had attempted to live for a short while. As the smaller buildings grew larger and taller and the street got wider he became aware that there were people around. Not many, but some and dogs in the street too. Still most of these tall old brownstones were abandoned – at least by rent and tax payers. This was maybe a good place to wait. Wait until what – he wasn't sure of, but he had the sudden urge to get off the street and into the calm coolness of the old apartment block he was standing in front of.

As he walked forward he noticed steps going down to the basement. There was likely a better place to stay. Just down there. Not enclosed. No doors and no locks. No cameras and nobody probing him and needing him. He climbed down the steps towards the basement door and sat down amongst the dirt and detritus which had been blown there over the years. He pulled his legs up tight to his body and wrapped his arms around them. Feeling safe at last, he rested his head on his knees and accepted the blessed sleep he had been so desperate for.

He didn't hear the SUV drive by and so he didn't see Morgan waving a red comb around and gesticulating at the one man who really truly could give Spencer the comfort he needed.

……………………….

"A plan Hotch we need a plan!" Morgan was waving the comb around trying to get Hotch to slow down the pace a bit and think about this. "We have no idea how many people are there. Hell man, we don't even know for sure if that is where Reid is!"

"Then we go and find out Morgan. Do you want me to pull over now so that you can get out? I will go alone, but I will go there and I will get Reid out of the mess I permitted him to get into in the first place. What was I thinking leaving him there? I must have been insane to think for one minute Reid would be safe. What is it about him Morgan? Is it his looks? – the way he stands? – His hair? Can't be is hair. – or is those eyes? What is it that makes him the victim over and over again?"

Morgan said nothing but looked at the white knuckles on the steering wheel and the way he was grinding his jaw. There was a lot more going on here than Hotch was admitting to. "Hotch, what aren't you telling me?"

They were now driving down the bit of road Reid had only recently walked along himself, in the other direction. Hotch slowed down and glanced at Morgan. "What do you mean?"

"You just seem to be acting – I don't know – like some distressed lover." As soon as the words came out of his mouth he wanted to suck them straight back in again. Hell no, surely that wasn't what this was all about? Not Hotch and Reid. Please no. "I – erm, sorry, that was out of line." He looked over at Hotch who was just staring straight ahead. He either didn't hear or he chose to ignore it. Either way was fine with Derek. He stopped fiddling with the comb and slipped it into the glove compartment as they pulled up outside the big rusty gates.

* * *

_It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory: - W. Edwards Deming

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	17. Chapter 17 Improvising

Improvising

_More of me comes out when I improvise: - Edward Hopper _

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

Hotch nearly died of heart failure when he was pulled out of his trance by the hammering on his window. Morgan let out a 'erk' sound and pulled out his gun. Aaron turned and let down the window.

"Took your bleeding time getting here. You got Reid with you?"

Hotch looked at the blood smeared apparition before him and shook his head. "Get in the back."

Morgan swivelled around so he could see the thing sitting in the back. He had a horrible wound on his neck and his shoulder length hair was clumped together with what looked and smelled of blood.

Aaron looked at the reflection in the central mirror. "Was Reid with you?"

Floyd was looking at something under his fingernails and with a frown dug whatever it was out with his teeth. "Yu hu – he sure was. I was hoping when I saw you that you had found him. He's – erm – escaped I suppose would be the right way to put it. Yes he escaped." A nod and now he was licking the sticky mess off his arms.

"Where did all that blood come from?" Morgan had his gun in his hand still.

Flanders held up his arms. "This mess? Various places. Mostly me. You haven't seen Spence? Now this is worrying because he isn't where I came from and he isn't with you, so where the hell is he?"

Hotch got out of the car and moved to the back. "Flanders, here." An order which caused Floyd to raise and eyebrow and wink at Morgan. He slid out of the car again and over to the back of the vehicle. Hotch was pulling clean clothing out a flight bag.

"Oh you are kidding me right? You want me to wear that shit?" Looking down at the white shirt and a pair of suit trousers. "Have you ever noticed the height difference between us Aaron? I am a tad shorter than you."

"You are covered in blood. I don't want to loan you my clothing Floyd but I also can't have you walking around like that. So just find somewhere to get changed and get these things on. Here.." Hotch gave him a belt. "Improvise."

Well improvisation was one of the things Floyd always thought he was particularly good at, and well, finding somewhere to change? Now this could be fun. He walked around to the front of the car as Aaron closed the boot and followed him as far as the drivers door.

"Hurry up. We need to find Reid." He sounded snappy.

"OK, I am finding a good spot, and I am going to improvise." He looked over at Derek and smirked. Then standing about five foot from Derek's side window he turned his back on the vehicle and slowly started to remove the pyjama type bottoms he was wearing. Morgan was very thankful at that moment of the comb Hotch had given him. It gave him a good reason to rip his eyes away from the vision he did NOT like, no he didn't, this was not his kind of thing at all. Red comb in hand, running his nail down the teeth distracting himself from the movement just outside his window. Flanders had done something to him, he knew that, but he didn't quite know what it was or how far it would effect him. All he knew right now was the amount of teeth on the small red comb in his hand and the almost overpowering need to get out of the car and help Floyd dress. Help him slide his arms into those crisp white cotton sleeves and stand behind him with his arms wrapped around that body and slowly do his buttons up for him. Morgan looked down at the comb and the way he had bent the teeth out at angles. He felt a hand on his leg. Derek looked a the hand and then up at Hotch.

"We will find him Morgan. We need to split up and do a search. He can't be far away and if he is dressed anything like Flanders was." Derek turned to look out of the window to see a smirking Floyd looking back at him. "He will be easy to find. This place is virtually deserted. Someone will have seen him." They both turned to look out of the window again. Floyd was tapping on it. Derek let the window down a couple of inches.

"Something I can keep my hair back with? A hat? Bit of something stretchy?" When no body said anything. Once he noticed Derek just staring with his mouth slightly open and now he say Hotch had noticed him properly he walked to the back of the car and opened up the back again. He pulled one of Hotch's ties out of the bag, slammed the door shut again and walked back to Morgan's window. "All thumbs today mate, don't suppose you will do the honours and tie my hair back for me will you?"

Morgan's eyes went big and he shook his head pressing the button to close the window and shut out that smell.

Floyd pulled his sticky hair off his face and wrapped the tie around it a few times in a manner which showed he had done this sort of thing many times before. He walked around to Aaron's window. "I will start to check out these places first. You go into town." And he started to walk off.

Hotch started the engine and turned the car around and they just sat and watch Floyd walking down the sidewalk in the same direction Reid had gone in.

The shirt Floyd had on was too big for him, but it was tucked into the waistband of the trousers and the sleeves which also would have been too long had been rolled up to his elbows. The trousers also too big had been pulled in tightly with the black belt and hung loosely to mid calf level which was how far up he had rolled his trouser legs. The ends of the tie holding his hair back ran down the back of the shirt. He walked smoothly. He was graceful. Hotch wondered why he never looked that good in his own clothing.

Morgan ran hands over his head and looked over at Hotch.

"I don't like him. I don't know what he is doing or what game he is playing but that man I will always be happier they further away from me he is."

Floyd grinned to himself as the car drove by with the agents in it. Floyd knew exactly were Reid was. He could smell him. He could smell the strangeness too, something had changed in his scent and Floyd wanted to be the one to find him. He needed to know if this damage was going to wear off or if Spencer was going to keep acting up. As soon as the car rounded the corner at the end of the block Floyd was running. Heading towards those big old brownstones heading towards Spence.

………………………

Spencer was vaguely aware of someone sitting down next to him. He kept his eyes closed for now. He knew who it was and the thought he knew what he wanted.

"We need to talk about stuff Spence."

Reid turned his head away from the voice. "I have nothing to say to you."

"So you are going to hide down here with the trash until it gets dark? Then what Babes?"

"I just want to be alone."

"You will be calling out for me in your nightmares when it gets dark."

"I won't. I will never call for you again Floyd."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Go and pick on someone else. Leave me alone."

"Leave you alone? After all I have done for you?"

Reid turned to look at him. Now Floyd could see the bruises around his neck and the blood encrusted under his nose. He could see the swollen lip and the marks to the side of his face. His torso was covered in what looked to be scratches – fingernail scratches. His eyes had crusts of watered down blood on their lids and the darkness around his eyes looked deep and deathly.

"What have you done for me Floyd? Convince me I am wrong and that you are the best thing that ever happened to me."

"What's with this shitty attitude? I came and found you didn't I? I got you out of that place. I even sent you Dr bleeding Culver to see if you were alright!"

"Sorry, not convinced. If that is all you can offer - a beating and a band aide, then go and leave me be."

Floyd put a hand out and pushed some of the dirty hair away from Reid's face. "Babes that's not all I can offer. You know that. Come with me, come on and I will take you somewhere warm and safe."

"I would rather die than go let you take me 'somewhere warm and safe'. Don't twist your words at me Flanders. I'm not one of you stupid little rent boys. I don't know what you have been doing to me, what you have been feeding me or drugging me with, but it won't work anymore."

"Spence, I am going to assume that you don't know what you are talking about. I am going to put it down to whatever they stuck in your back and I am going to forgive you for this outburst because babes, I know it's not your fault. Let me help you up to street level. Aaron and Morgan are out there in the car somewhere. I brought help. I called them here. I saved you. You can thank me later."

"You didn't hear a word I said to you did you?"

"Every single utterance my sweet. You are right you are not one of my stupid little rent boys. You are far more valuable. I haven't drugged you – ever. I don't know where you got that idea from."

A burst of laughter. "You have never drugged me? Can you hear what you are saying? Can you ever tell even half a truth?"

"Fine, great, whatever Spence. I need you to get up and we will go find Aaron."

"Aaron is out there driving around in a car with Morgan. Why do you think I don't believe you? Why do I think you are after something again?"

Floyd could hear a car in the distance. He needed Reid to do as he was told now, or he would have to, once again, improvise. "Get up off your arse and come with me. Now Spence. Stop sodding around."

"Oh go away Floyd. Go and find something dead to play with." Reid pulled himself up small again and put his head down onto his knees. Which might have been a mistake because he never even saw what was coming until it was far too late and he was being lifted off the ground with hands around his neck and then flying through the air of his small space he had been sitting safely in and smacking the back of his head against the edge of the brickwork by the basement door.

Flanders now moved in quickly – he rubbed furiously at his eyes making them water and then picked Reid up and walked up the steps just as the SUV came into sight. This was his. Spence was his and there was no bleeding way Reid was going to get rid of him that easily. He was stuck with him for good now. Well at least until he got bored with him, but there was something strangely comforting about the familiarity of Spence.

* * *

_There are __toys__ for all ages__: - __French Proverb

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_


	18. Chapter 18 Hearts and Homes

Hearts and Homes.

_One should not lose one's temper unless one is certain of getting more and more angry to the end: - __William Butler Yeats_

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

They saw Floyd walking towards them carrying what looked like a not too well looking Reid. They pulled up in the middle of the street and Hotch jumped out and ran over.

"What happened?" He could see fresh blood dripping from a cut somewhere on the back of Spencer's head.

A slow gentle shake of the head. "Aaron, I don't know. He seemed sort of crazy. Went totally ape on me. Then kinda collapsed and hit his head."

Hotch looked from Derek to Floyd to Reid and back to Derek again.

"Morgan, come and take Reid, sit in the back with him. I don't want him waking and freaking out seeing Floyd again and anyway Flanders I need to talk to you about where the hell you have been and what's been going on. You both look pretty injured. What happened to your neck?"

As Derek too Reid out of his arms he put a hand up to his neck and then walked over to the passenger side of the car. Floyd got in and pulled the seat belt around him clipping it into place. He half turned and looked at Derek sitting with Reid laying across him. His head resting on Morgan's lap. Derek's fingers running through the dirty hair.

"Agent Derek Morgan." Derek looked up at Floyd. "You don't want to be doing that."

Morgan took his hand away from Spencer and frowned. "Why not?"

"It is likely to result in me breaking your neck. Keep your hands off him."

"I am trying to comfort him."

Floyd let out a short manic laugh. "Comfort him? Yes we know about your sort of comforting don't we Agent Derek Morgan, who likes to grope invalids. I've had a taste of you Morgan. I know what you are all about."

Hotch turned to look at Morgan and then at Floyd. "The pair of you stop! We need to get Reid to a hospital."

Now Floyd's attention was at Aaron. "Yes nice and safe in a hospital. Just what he needs. May I suggest that I take him home?"

Flanders watched Aaron lean across him and push the door open. He looked down confused for a second when this seat belt suddenly was unclipped. When Floyd looked up again he was looking down the barrel of Hotch's gun. "Get out of the car." Now he heard a gun being readied behind him and something cold pressed against the back of his head.

"Oh charming. This is a nice greeting. I rescue your little friend and this is that thanks I get? I should have left him to bleed out amongst the filth. He would have fitted in nicely. After all I have done for him. All the hours spent trying to protect him; after all he did to me! He shot me in the neck you know, but that is fine. Accidents happen, I forgive him, but you two – you two just won't leave us alone. Agent Derek Morgan, you know how you feel. Just give way to it occasionally, but keep your dirty hands off my Spence and Aaron.." Floyd put a hand on Hotch's knee and if he was going to say more they didn't know because he shut up when Hotch moved his gun from Floyd's head and rammed it into his groin.

"I think you will be more worried about damaging this than what passes for a brain. Get out of the car Flanders before I put a bullet where I really believe it will hurt. OUT!"

Floyd slid backwards out of the car watching Aaron closely. He slammed the car door and stood in the road as the SUV sped away leaving a cloud of dust behind it.

"You bastards. Why don't you trust me? After all this time you would think you would trust me!" He shouted down the street. "Crap that didn't go as expected."

…………………….

By the evening they were pulling up outside Hotch's house again. Aaron was wondering if he could persuade Reid to move in here with him. It would make life easier. He would be there for when Spencer needed that reassurance he so craved and Hotch wouldn't feel so empty and alone sharing his big house with something so precious.

"You sure he shouldn't be in a hospital?" Derek was again stroking the sticky hair on Spencer's head.

"Let's get him washed and see what we can do for him here. If necessary I will call out a medic to the house. I don't want him back in a hospital, he has seen enough of those to last a lifetime. I just want him to feel safe and – well loved I suppose. With his friends and not surrounded by that smell and the uniforms. I worry about him Morgan. I worry about the fragility of his mind and what all this has done to him. It's changed him. He is not the same person we worked with in the BAU."

"Life and situations change us all Hotch. I am sure neither of us think or do the same as when we first started out in this job. Look at you. A happily married man with a baby – now coming home to an empty dusty house." Morgan started to clamber out of the car trying not to awaken a slumbering Spencer. "But you are right. This isn't the Reid we used to know and that Flanders has a lot to do with it."

Hotch locked the car door and walked up to the house. The cold emptiness of the building was soon pushed back by the lights being turned on and the talking of the two agents.

"Can you take him on up to the bathroom, I will put the coffee on and grab something clean for him to wear."

Morgan looked down at Reid and nodded at Aaron and then walked up the stairs making his way to the bathroom.

……………………..

By the evening he had found somewhere to stay. An old stinking room overlooking the main street going through this strange town. If it could be called a town. He wiped a bit of the grimy glass clean and stood staring down at the young man walking out of the shop almost directly across the street from him and turned around to look at the body laying on the floor behind him.

She had been a cheep tart he picked up easily. Didn't even ask for payment. Not that she would have gotten any. She was just pleased to have the chance to screw some minor deity and he was happy to bring the little scrubber back up to his place. Something to take his mind off the way Spence had been temporarily taken from him. He walked over to Sonja and looked at her scraggly long yellow hair and her lips slightly parted. It looked like she was looking at the patterns on the ceiling, but Floyd knew that wasn't the last thing she was looking at before he snapped that pretty little neck. He bent down beside her and touched her face gently with his fingers.

"Thanks sweetheart. I need to go do something for a while. I will play with you again later."

He got up and went back to looking out of the window. He concentrated. He pushed his mind first into Spencer and once there he was able to easily send out the messages he wanted to.

A spiteful smirk fixed on his face as he played his games with the puppets who took his toy away from him.

………………………

Aaron stood in the bathroom door and looked down at Morgan. He had filled the tub and put a naked Spencer in the hot water, he was now running his hands over his skin. Reid still seemed to be sleeping, but Derek was thinking now this was something bad and they had to get him to hospital. Reid had been out for way too long for his liking. However – before then, he will just - wash this dirt away, gently.

"What are you doing Morgan?"

He stood up too quickly and felt a bit light headed for a second or so. "I - I" He looked down at his hands and at Spencer laying in the water.

"The man is unconscious Morgan. That is sexual assault." Hotch's lips hardly moved but the anger he was feeling was very well felt by Derek.

"What?! Oh man you got it all wrong – I was washing him down is all." Derek looked confused as he looked down again at Reid and then at his hands. '_Oh god what have I been doing?'_ A sudden urge had him wanting to kneel back down next to the tub. He looked from Reid to Hotch and back again.

"Step away from him Morgan."

"Hotch! Man I need to explain."

"No you don't. I get him away from Flanders and delivered him to you. I saw what you were doing Morgan, there is nothing you need to do to explain."

"But he…" Morgan looked at Spencer again who was beginning to slip under the water. "He's gonna drown if I don't hold him." And as he started to bend down was when Hotch's foot caught Derek on the chin.

He fell back onto the floor with a raging Hotch on top of him. It was lucky that Derek didn't have enough hair to hold onto as Aaron would have smacked his hard head against the bathroom floor.

Aaron was good, but Derek was the hand to hand expert and Hotch didn't stand much of a chance. It was a rough fight. There was blood spat from split lips and heads smacked against the walls, floor, and other bathroom objects but in the end it was Derek's ability which won over Hotch's experience and seeing nothing but a blind hatred and rage Morgan found himself standing over a prone Hotch stamping hard on the side of his face and as Aaron stopped trying to move away and his hands fell from where they had been trying to force Morgan off him – as quickly as it started it stopped.

Morgan jumped back and looked down at Hotch.

"Son of a bitch! What in hells name have I done?"

And now he was looking over at Spencer who had slipped below the water and was staring up through the wetness with small bubbles coming out of his mouth. Good sign.

He dragged Reid out of the water and slapped him on his back to make sure he was breathing and then half carried and half dragged him to the spare bedroom he had stayed in before in the past. He dropped the wet shivering Reid on the bed and threw a blanket over him. "I will be back for you soon. Just don't wander off ok?" A ruffle of his wet hair and he was back across kneeling down next to Hotch.

Morgan could see Hotch's chest slowly rising and falling. He could see the blood around his nose and from his mouth where it looked as though he had split is inner cheek or lip with his teeth. There was a big lump swelling up on the side of his face. "Hotch, damn, what happened?" He grabbed Aaron under the arms and dragged him across the landing to his bedroom. Derek hauled him onto the bed and laid him on his side. "I am so sorry man, I don't understand what the hell was going on there." Morgan looked out of the door way and squeezed Hotch on the shoulder before leaving him and heading back to Spencer.

…………………….

Spencer felt cold. He felt wet and his hair was soaked, but he had no idea why. He knew he was laying on a bed and he had a blanket around him, but a quick examination soon let him see that he had been stripped of his clothing. The last thing he could really properly remember was walking down a street somewhere with boarded up houses, but he didn't know why he had been there or how he got there, just that he was and now this – laying naked on a bed with a blanket around him.

He felt movement on the bed next to him. His body tensed but he kept his eyes closed. Whoever it was now lay down next to him and was putting an arm around him. It wasn't Floyd. The hands felt wrong. It wasn't Aaron the smells…for both men….the smell was wrong. Spencer had no idea who this was, but when this unknown hand moved and started to rub his arm and then down to this thigh, Spencer rolled off the bed and away from hands he thought were about to invade him yet again.

He crouched on the floor staring at Morgan who was rolling off the bed in the other direction.

"M Morgan? What- what's going on?" He pulled the blanket tightly around his skinny frame.

Hands up palms forward Derek started to make his way around the bed. "It's OK Reid, you are safe. You are at Aaron's house."

"You – you were – you were touching me." Reid backed away his eyes wide and confused. Why did nothing make sense anymore?

"You are cold and wet; I was trying to warm you." Morgan still walking forwards. "It's ok Reid, man. I'm not going to hurt you."

'_I'm not going to hurt you.'_

How many times had Spencer heard that being said to him just before a fist made contact with him somewhere? "Keep away."

_Spence._

_You know he was violating you._

_Are you going to let him get away with that?_

The voice hammered through Reid's head and made him rub at his temple with his fist – making sure the blanket didn't drop.

_Don't just stand there like some freak._

"What do you want me to do?" Spencer was still staring at Morgan.

Derek was looking confused. "I don't want you to do anything Reid."

"I wasn't talking to you!" Spencer spat back.

This caused Morgan to quickly look around to see who else was in the room with them.

_Demand an apology._

_Tell him he is no better than the guy who raped him when he was a kid._

Reid nodded. "I understand Morgan that you went through a lot when you were a child, but that does not give you the right to make me one of your victims."

Now a big step forward. "I beg your pardon?"

_Good one babe._

"Thank you." Reid was watching Derek getting closer.

"Thank you for what?!" Shouting at Reid now – that little vein throbbing on the temple, and the mouth set hard.

"I wasn't talking to you!" Shouting back.

"There is no one else here Reid. What the hell is wrong with you?"

_Hit him Spence. When he is in range. He thinks you are mad. He thinks you are like your mum. He will get you locked up._

"Both of you shut up!"

The frown on Morgan's face turned to shock as Spencer raised a hand and attempted to slap Derek around the face. Morgan caught his wrist and pulled Reid closer. "Both of us? There is only me – Reid man…" the rest of the sentence cut off as Spencer spat in his face.

"Get your filthy hands of me."

Words Morgan had heard someone say before – more than once, but not from Spencer. Derek's fist flew and landed on the side of Reid's chin before he could stop himself. He stood mesmerised by the way Reid staggered back. Morgan looked at the shocked look on Reid's face and at the dribble of blood seeping out of the corner of his mouth.

_He hit you!_

_Shit Babes –Morgan hit you._

"I know he did." Mumbled under his breath. "They all do in the end."

"Do what?" Derek was rubbing gently at his hand. Looking at Reid and feeling unwanted feelings in his mind and body.

Spencer wiped the blood off which was beginning to trickle down his chin. "I wasn't talking to you."

"Who were you talking to?" Walking closer again. A sudden need to be close. Licking his lips.

"Floyd."

"Floyd's not here."

Reid touched a finger to his forehead. "Floyd is here."

……………………..

Floyd stood looking out of the window for few more minutes and then turned back to Sonja.

"Hey darlin' you still here?"

* * *

_Freddy Krueger__ once said: - Welcome to my world, bitch. I should warn you, princess... the first time tends to get a little... messy.

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_

**A/N: Well…well well…not sure quite what happened there!

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	19. Chapter 19 sharing

Sharing

_Sharing is loving: - Anon_

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

Aaron slept that night alone in the bed he hadn't been in since Haley left. Morgan spent the night sleeping on the couch in Hotch's lounge. Spencer spent the night curled up tightly in the corner of the room with the night light on. Floyd spent the night introducing himself to various locals. Especially that lad who worked in the shop across the way. Favours for favours – and though the lovely Sonja had quite a pleasing way about her, she was after all just a piece of skirt.

In the morning Derek was the first to wake. He was meant to be in work. Rossi would be asking questions, but he had called in sick. He had no idea what Aaron was going to do when he awoke, but he wanted to face that problem here and not at the office. Now also was the added problem of Reid. First things first. Coffee on and then shower.

When he got to the top of the stairs Aaron was standing outside his bedroom door with a hand pressed to his forehead. Morgan stopped and looked at him. "Hotch." He wanted to say more but really didn't know where to start.

He turned slowly and looked at Morgan his expression not changing. "Have the shower first. I'll go have coffee. Then we need to talk. I am not sure what happened yesterday. I would like to put it behind us but first we need to talk about it. I don't want this to happen again and nor do I want us dragging this back to the office with us. I don't want old grudges to get in the way."

Morgan nodded. "I will shower then." He took a wide berth and walked around his boss and entered the bathroom.

The tub was still full of cold dirty water. He stood for a while remembering how Reid had looked below the water. Something very perfect about him. He pulled the plug out of the tub and then moved cautiously over the damp floor. He pulled a dry towel off the shelving and put it to one side and stripped off his clothes. He would have to put them back on again and they didn't look very clean, or he can ask Hotch if he has something he can borrow until he gets home.

The noise from the shower was thunderous as the water was forced out and it sprayed over Derek's dark skin. He took the liquid soap and started to clean the sweat off his body. He let out a small yelping sound when he felt hands on his back and then breath in his ear.

"This what you were after last night?"

"Reid! What are you doing? Get out of the damned shower man." Morgan started to turn around.

"Ssshh – stand still. You will be amazed what tricks I have learnt. Not as innocent as I sometimes make myself look." A gentle bite on Derek's dusky shoulder. "Of course should Floyd find out, he will be very annoyed. Do you know the statistics for gay on gay homicides?"

"Reid, this must stop now before it is too late." He tried to turn around again but Reid had hold of his shoulders. "And I am not gay."

A tongue over the back of Morgan's neck. "Do you know how hard it was for me not to pounce on you that time we got stuck in the lift?" And a nibble. "Anyone but you! I could have coped with Hotch being there. I could cope with it being one of the girls, but you? That was not a good experience in so many ways."

"You were scared Reid. We both were." Arms around him now with fingers playing with the skin on his abdomen. "Reid – Spencer – get out of the shower."

"I know what you did to me in the tub. I was awake. I felt your hands on me."

"But I – we need to discuss last night with Hotch"

Morgan heard a sigh and then felt Reid's arms unwrap themselves. Hopefully this awkward situation was over. The hands alighted on his shoulders know and he could feel Reid licking at the back of his neck. Derek let out a soft moan as Spencer slowly moved down to a crouch not taking his tongue off Derek's skin – slowly moving hands down Morgan's arms and then digging his nails into his thighs. The return journey was almost more than Derek could take.

Spencer was enjoying this. His voice was telling him what to do. Now he had something. Now Derek would stop tormenting him, because now Derek knew who really was in control and right now it was Spencer.

_Now step away from him Babes._

_Well done._

_He should stop with the teasing now._

Reid stepped back and got out of the shower. He picked up the towel Derek had got for himself and wrapped it around his waist, tucking in the ends to stop it falling down.

_Fancy that coffee now?_

"Sounds good." A grin.

Morgan turned slowly to look at Reid. "What sounds good?"

Reid looked across at him. "Wasn't talking to you."

Muttering under his breath he left the bathroom.

Derek stood dripping water once again not quite knowing what had just happened. First Floyd and now Spencer. He pulled a towel down and quickly dried himself. He looked up at the towels and then decided it was too risky and put his clothes back on again.

…………………….

_Go and get Aaron now._

_Its his turn to have a bit of fun._

_He must be missing you._

A revitalised happy Reid fairly bounced down the stairs and walked quickly to the kitchen. Aaron saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned around expecting to see Derek. Reid was standing in just inside the kitchen leaning with his back against the wall. Hotch took in a deep breath.

"Spencer. How are you this morning?" Stupid question Hotch – how does he look? Wet, pale, thin, damp hair, big hazel eyes, just wearing a pale blue towel which was slipping a bit too low and his hands behind his back.

Spencer looked at Hotch and smiled. "I am feeling good. I had a shower and now need a coffee." He pushed himself off the wall and walked slowly over towards Aaron.

_Well done babes. _

_Flirt with him._

"Mmmm I am." Hardly heard whisper.

"Spencer? You are what?" Aaron was standing staring holding a coffee mug in one hand and a spoon in the other.

"Flirting with you."

_Nice Spence. _

_Keep going._

_You know what to do._

He took the mug and spoon out of Hotch's hands and leaned forwards giving him a smallest of light kisses on the lips. "You sleep well?"

Hotch took a step back and a look of total confusion crawled its way over his face. "Reid – erm – coffee?"

"Soon." Aaron watched those pale hands put the mug and spoon on the counter and then he watched Spencer walk towards him. That way Spencer sometimes walked – elbows in tight and a bit of movement in his hips.

_Show him who's in charge babes._

"Yu – I will – don't worry." A big happy toothy grin.

"You will what?" Aaron was looking worried now. This was completely abnormal behaviour for Reid. This was more like Floyd.

"Not talking to you Aaron – So shut your dirty whores mouth." Reid walked closer as Aaron backed off.

_Wonderful!_

"Thank you so much!"

_You did have the best teacher though._

"I still do."

Hotch could now see Derek standing in the doorway behind Reid. He gave Aaron a questioning look which Aaron tried to respond to without letting Spencer see.

Derek moved in close behind before Reid realised he was there. Spencer though moved fast. He took two big steps so he was nose to nose with Aaron and wrapped his arms around Hotch's neck. His mouth so tightly rammed onto Hotch's that Aaron couldn't breathe – Spencer trying to fight his way by Aaron's lips so he could run his tongue along those white teeth. His fingers grasping hold of the hair on the back of Hotch's head – holding his head in place and pulling to give that small amount of pain always needed to go along with pleasure.

Spencer heard the soft groan escape from Aaron and as Reid's mouth pressed harder and became more insistent Aaron slowly opened his lips. He could see that Reid had his eyes closed. He could feel the excitement rippling through the young man's body and could feel the way his body was responding to this. Aaron needed it to stop and though getting Morgan involved would be a good idea, he needed to show what ever was happening to Reid that it was he – Hotch – Agent Aaron Hotchner – who was putting a stop to this.

Hotch put one hand on Spencer's shoulder and another on the back of his head. A quick glance over to Morgan just to reassure the other agent that he knew he was there. Gradually opening his mouth and parting his teeth Hotch held Reid firmly in place.

It was wonderful. Spencer could feel all the hairs on his body standing up in ecstasy and as he slid his tongue over Hotch's teeth and he felt the hard hand on his shoulder and fingers entwined in his hair – as Spencer realised suddenly that it was Hotch in control and not him, then the pain. The pain of the teeth clamping down on Spencer's tongue and the even worse pain of a knee in the groin.

Reid tried to back away yelping out in pain. His mouth bleeding and needing to double over and relieve some of the pain but Hotch was talking to him now.

"I don't know what the hell you are playing at – I don't know why you think you can do this to me, but I have a horrible feeling that Morgan has had a taste of your rather nasty medicine this morning too. It will stop now. I am going to let go of you and you will step away from me and stop this game you are playing. Do you understand me?"

_Bastard._

_After all that effort._

_Don't stand there and take that. _

_Hurt him back. _

He head butt was so quick and sudden that Aaron was unable to avoid Spencer's head as it cracked against his nose. Like wise the hands pulling Reid's hands behind his back and cuffing him were so fast that Spencer didn't have time to stop it.

Aaron and Morgan stood back and watched Reid slide to the floor and lay screaming every foul word they had ever heard and some they thought Reid must be making up.

Then as he began to quieten down and he lay still on the kitchen floor the curses turned to sobs.

_Well done._

_Make them feel guilty._

_Aaron will make Morgan take the cuffs off._

_Then we can start the game again._

……………………….

Somewhere out in some old half deserted town a man with long hair, no shoes on his feet and a cheroot in his mouth was grinning.

* * *

_There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved:- George Sand

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_


	20. Chapter 20 Misrepresentation

Misrepresentation

_**Untruthful**__: – _adjective: - _not truthful; wanting in veracity; diverging from or contrary to the truth; not corresponding with fact or reality._

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

They stood and looked at the form laying on the floor shaking and crying. Spencer pulled his legs up tightly to himself and pulled at the cuffs for a while, but eventually just lay still in his towel with his hair damp and stuck to his face.

Aaron was the first to move towards him. He knelt on the floor next to Reid and put out a tentative hand towards his hair. Pushing it gently off his face.

"Spencer." He looked down at the big eyes staring back at him. All other words he wanted to say. The angry word. The ones to berate him for his actions. The ones to tell him he was ill and needed help. All of those words went from his mind as he looked at that confused face.

"Hotch? What happened.?"

Morgan frowned at Aaron and looked at Reid. He too wished he knew what had happened.

"I'm not sure Reid. I am going to call a doctor – but I really think you need to be in hospital." A hand on Reid's shaking shoulder.

He tried to roll over onto his back and let out a pathetic whimper as his hands behind his back got in the way. "Please Hotch – please not a hospital."

Morgan went to pour himself a coffee. "You want a coffee Reid?" He was at a total loss as to what he should be saying. Deep down, somewhere inside he wanted to pick Reid up off the floor and knock his teeth out, but anger management had told him to try to change subjects and/or walk away from the situation. Not always possible. Not in this job.

Aaron looked up at Morgan and then back and the sprawled Reid. "Hotch. I don't understand. What did I do?"

"I will get you something to put on. Morgan help Reid into the lounge. We need to sit and talk about what to do."

Hotch stood and looked down again at a very confused and scared looking Reid.

As Aaron left the kitchen and walked down the hallway towards the stairs he could hear Spencer quietly talking to Morgan.

………………………..

"Why am I cuffed Morgan?"

"You were – were acting strangely. It was for your own safety – as much as ours."

"Yours? What did I do?" Hugest eyes ever looking up at Morgan.

Derek shook his head. "You really don't want to know. I'll undo them now you seem to be back to your old self."

_Way to go babes._

_Told you, you could do it._

"Thank you."

"You're welcome kiddo."

_You are welcome Spence._

Morgan helped Spencer to sit and then quickly unfastened the cuffs. Reid put his hand on his lap and rubbed at his wrists keeping his eyes down. "I need a shower."

Derek frowned at him. "You sorta had one already." He watched carefully as Reid got to his feet and wrapped the towel tighter around his waist and then wrapped his arms tightly around him in his normal protective manner. "I'll give you a hand in the shower."

_Whoah._

"It's fine Derek, I can manage."

Morgan watched a slightly wobbly Reid walk from the kitchen, head down looking at the floor as he went. As the door closed behind him Spencer quickly turned to make sure he wasn't being followed and then adjusted the towel to make it appear to have slipped to his hips again. One bony hipbone on display. He fluffed his now drying hair up and put on his slightly affected walk. Elbows in and that special way he had of walking. The way he walked when Floyd was watching him.

_Good Spence._

_Go get him._

"I'm not totally sure I now why. I thought I had to keep away from him." muttering

_Don't be argumentative._

_It's only a game._

A big smile spread across his face as he climbed the stairs. Aaron's bedroom door was open and this is where Spencer made for. He walked into Hotch's room and saw him pulling some stuff out of the wardrobe. With his foot Reid slammed the door shut and pressed the lock with his thumb.

Aaron spun to see Reid again leaning with his hands behind his back.

"You stopped me mid stride. I've come to finish what I started."

Hotch threw the things he hand in his hand over onto the bed and watched Reid walking over towards him hands now at his side.

"Reid – Spencer. What is this all about? We need to sit and talk about it. I need to call a doctor for you. You are not thinking straight. Where is Morgan? Why are your cuffs off?"

"Too many questions Aaron. You know what this is all about. You must know by now. All those times I have lain with you and you have held me tight. Have you never wondered why it as always you I came to? Never Gideon." Walking close again, while Hotch started to side step.

Aaron was looking far from happy about this. Still in his pyjama trousers and nothing else (bunny slippers had been removed) He was feeling strangely vulnerable. He shouldn't feel threatened by Reid. It was he Spencer came to for comfort.

"Floyd won't like this. I don't want you to get hurt by him again. Spencer no!" One of Reid's fingers was tracking down Aaron's bare chest.

"It was Floyd's idea. He will be pleased with me. Don't tell me you have never wanted this? All those times in the dark holding me close. Feeling me shiver against you. Come on Aaron. You were fairly gagging for it! It was only Floyd that stopped you. Too afraid to take a risk."

_Beautiful._

_Carry on._

_He's squirming._

Reid continued to run a finger over Aaron's bare skin. Little circles and big circles touching sensitive skin and yes – Aaron was beginning to squirm.

"He is isn't he?"

His other hand on Hotch's shoulder digging in fingernails and making little crescent shaped marks on Aaron's skin.

"Spencer. Please stop this." But the breathing was getting heavy now and Reid was running a tongue over Aarons jaw line.

"You want me to go to Derek? He would happily have me."

_No._

"Shut up. I am dealing with this."

Hotch's understanding of anything was blown out of the window now and Spencer's odd random sentences were confusing but he thought the least of his worries right now.

_Mind who you are talking to you little freak._

"I'm not a damned freak!" Reid shouted as he felt hands gently touching his back. "You hurt me last time. You didn't need to do that."

Hotch could feel all the knobbly bones down Reid's spine with his right hand and his left he placed on Spencer's bare hip. "You shouldn't be doing this Spencer."

"Why not? You don't like me? You don't want this?" Reid was now pressing his body hard against Hotch and as he spoke his lips brushed against Aaron's.

Aaron could smell a strange sweetness of Spencer's breath and as he breathed it in it made him grip harder onto Reid's hip and the hand on his back found it's way suddenly in Spencer's hair. His fingers twisting that hair with it's reddish tinges around his fingers and pulling Reid's head back so he could lean down slightly and run his tongue over Spencer's lips.

_Fabulous._

_Now let him go and walk off._

"Mmmm no."

"You taste sweet." Breathy whispered voice from Aaron.

"So I have been told. Now be quiet or Derek will come up and spoil our fun."

_I told you to back off._

"You're not here to stop me." The words lost on Aaron as he felt like a thousand volts had been sent through his body as tongues touched and now lips pressed against lips and bodies pressed against bodies.

_You dirty little bastard!_

_This wasn't part of the plan._

_Let go of him._

Reid ignored the voice nagging in his head. Always there telling him what to do – today he was going to ignore it and so with vile obscene words being shouted in his head he and Aaron slid together onto the thick carpet of the bedroom floor.

…………………………….

For Floyd things hadn't been going to plan for a while. Time after time he felt control slipping through his fingers and now as he stood in the shadows smoking and thinking and listening he knew that once again he had totally and probably this time irreparably lost it. He did seem to have shot himself in the foot rather with this one.

He didn't know what they had done to Spence in that damned place and as he watched the stream of police cars and CSU vans racing by it was unlikely he was every going to find out what it was. He was just very glad he had destroyed everything he could lay his hands on that had anything to do with him. Objects, bottles, slides, computers and people. No witnesses.

His problem now was a complete lack of funds. As he saw it in his distorted mind there were only a couple of ways he could get some and both ways involved the shop with the lad serving no one all day.

"This town is fucking dead. Why employ someone to serve no one. Who the hell is going to go in there? It was obviously a front of some kind and this was Floyd's new project. Let Reid have his fun. He will end up being locked up and being some guys little bit of pleasure. Then he will regret not listening. Floyd put out the thing he had been smoking and walked across the street.

The shop door had a bell above it which made a soft tinkling sound as Floyd walked in. He reached up one calloused hand and ripped the bell off, kicked the door shut and put the closed sign up. He pushed the bolt across and turned to look at the lad at the counter who seemed to have lost all colour in his skinny face. Floyd saw his Adam's apple bob as he took a deep swallow.

"Can I – I help you sir?"

"Oh yes, I really hope you can. I was rather banking on it." A few steps and he was at the counter.

"Oh" Ben had wanted to say more than that but 'oh' was all he could manage to make his mouth say.

"You see." Floyd put both hands palms down on the counter top. "I have a small problem. Well actually not that small. Not that I like to boast, but I lack funds. I need money and I need it quickly."

"Oh." This time not much more than a squeak.

"I could just take it from you." Nodding at the cash register. "But I'm no thief." A grin. "Well not usually. I would rather earn my money and so I am going to offer you the treat of a life time."

Floyd started to move around the side of the old counter. "P please mister."

"Yes – please. That my little friend is the correct attitude. I am going to give you a gift, only it's not really that much of a gift because you will have to pay for it. On your knees."

"Huh?" Floyd could see the lad was shaking.

"I said get on your knees. Service me and think of this being your lucky day."

"What?" Ben just stood staring incredulously at the totally cracked stranger. He felt a hand on the top of his head pushing him down to his knees.

"I am sure a boy like you living in a shit hole like this must've seen a bit of action. Even if only in your skin mags. Give me a treat boy and if it's really good I won't kill you afterwards."

* * *

_Edward D. Wood, Jr.__: - You know, you're, you're much scarier in real life than you are in the movie.

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_


	21. Chapter 21 Gentle Hands

Gentle Hands

_History shows that male homosexuality, which like __prostitution__ flourishes with urbanization and soon becomes predictably ritualized, always tends toward decadence__: -__Camille Paglia _

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

He grabbed the lad by the back of his Manson Tshirt and pulled him back to his feet. "Sweet boy. Now you need to pay for the pleasure. Money from the cash register in my hand will be what I am asking for – and I would like to know your name."

"Ben." Wiping his hand across his mouth and pressing the 'no sale' button. "How – how much?"

Floyd smiled at him. "How much was it worth – Ben?"

Shaky hands pulled out all the notes from the drawer and handed them over to Flanders. "It's every thing in there. Apart from the change – you – you want the coins?"

"No Ben I don't want the coins. I want you to explain to me how this much money gets in a cash register when hardly anyone ever comes in here. I've been watching. You have only had two customers. So where is all this money from?" Floyd was flicking through the notes quickly adding them up. "Over four hundred dollars in this shitty little dump – now I am dead curious."

"It it it's always been like that." Ben closed the drawer.

"Ben – I have a really good sense of smell, and I can smell liars. I can smell fear and I can smell both of those things on you right now. So try again. Tell me why there is so much money in the cash register."

Ben glanced down at the few pen knives under the counter and tried to work out if he had enough time to grab one. He figured not. "Sir really I don't know."

"LIAR!" He grabbed Ben by the front of his t-shirt. "Now think real careful about what you say to me next because I am going to get mighty pissed if you lie to me again. Right Ben – I am going to pretend I am asking this question for the first time and you will smile at me and tell me the sodding truth. Understand?"

A nod

"Good. Ben – why is there over four hundred dollars in the cash register of a store with no customers?" He watched the eyes of Ben looking to see if help was arriving yet. "Well?"

"Because some people buy expensive stuff."

"I love that answer. Show me." He let go of Ben and moved out of the way so the lad could pass him.

"Show you?"

"The expensive stuff. Show me."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I sold it."

Floyd just stood and looked at the kid with the sores around his nose and the grubby clothes and strange long fingernails and laughed. He didn't laugh very often but this kid amused him. "You had one thing in the store that cost four hundred dollars and you sold it?"

"Erm yes."

"What was it?"

"I shouldn't tell you."

"Likely you are correct but I think we are good friends now don't you? I gave you a treat; you gave me lots of money. So we are friends, and friends shouldn't keep secrets. So Ben – it was Ben wasn't it? Yes so Ben – what did you sell?"

"Erm sir."

"Floyd. My name is Floyd."

"Floyd – some stuff I was told to pass on is all. I don't know what it was."

"Dope. You sell dope. Grand. I love it. Take me to your leader." Another laugh.

"I can't! They will kill me."

"And if you don't I will just skin you alive and feed off your internal organs. Choose." A big toothy smile. "NOW!"

………………………….

He got up and left Aaron laying on the floor flushed in the face. Spencer had grabbed the clothing Hotch had found for him and walked over to the bathroom. He left the door open and turned on the shower. The hot water over his body felt wonderful. Spencer felt strangely free. All the inhibitions he used to drag around with him had gradually fallen away and now it was just him – oh and sometimes the voices.

Faintly downstairs he could hear music playing. Morgan had put on MTV or something. He soaped himself and washed his hair properly, enjoying the feeling of his own hands on his body.

………………………

Morgan was sitting looking down into his coffee mug. The music in the background was so he didn't have to listen to the sounds coming from upstairs. He didn't know what was going on, but it didn't seem to be something Aaron was not completely unused to or it seems totally against.

For a very odd reason Derek felt a twist in his stomach. He didn't like it. He didn't like that Reid was there with Hotch.

"It's not meant to be like that."

Derek put his mug down hard on the coffee table making the dark drink splosh over the edge and drip onto the table. He got up and walked quickly up the stairs. All the doors except the bathroom door were closed. Derek gave Hotch's bedroom door a cursory glance and then looked over at the bathroom door. He could hear the water running, and the faint mutter's of Reid talking to himself.

Morgan stepped into the bathroom and closed and locked the door behind him. He had a sudden fierce flow of anger ripping through him. He wasn't sure where it had come from, but he could see Reid with his back to him with the water running over his pale damaged skin and he was clenching his fists as he watched that freak wash himself.

"Reid." It was a demanding voice. One which made Spencer frown as he turned.

"Morgan?" He pulled a puzzled face and did his 'OMG I feel so exposed' face. Derek threw him a towel which he caught still standing under the water. Reid held it in front of him self and stepped out of the shower.

"What the hell is your game Reid? Why are you doing this?" He watched the soggy ex-profiler walk towards him and the rage was building. "What are you acting like some fag whore?!"

Spencer blinked. Ok that isn't what Morgan should be saying. Something wasn't right and now he was locked in a steamy bathroom naked with a big black bloke foaming at the mouth in anger. Not what he had planned.

"Floyd?"

No answer.

"What the hell has Floyd go to do with this? He's not here. This is you Reid. You can't go putting the blame on someone else." Morgan was moving in closer and Reid could see those fists.

"Morgan, what's wrong? I haven't done anything! Have you been at Aaron's liquor again?"

Pain on the front of his face and the back of his head almost simultaneously. The fist to the mouth and the head on the toilet bowl as he fell backwards and Reid could hear familiar words flowing from a different mouth.

"You dirty son of a bitch whore. You filthy little freak pervert!" Morgan was shouting. When Floyd used these words on him they were hissed and whispered a dirty secret only for the two of them. Derek though was making sure the whole street could hear and as Reid saw the sudden flash of movement he wrapped his arms around his head. There was blood in his mouth and now a hard well practiced foot kicking him in the ribs.

Spencer wanted to call a truce and make this mad man leave him alone but somewhere deep down that old window opened in his mind and he began to actually enjoy the pain. Some very twisted form of self harming.

Now hands in his hair and on one arm pulling him up. "Stand up! Get up and face me." Spencer was shaking with the shock or was it excitement? He didn't know now but he slowly managed to get back onto his feet. There was blood on his chin from the smack to the mouth and it was this Derek was staring at. Reid was looking down at the floor his hair sliding and dripping over his face. Morgan moved in and put a hand on Spencer's forehead pushing his head up and back so he could see that mouth. That perfect Spencer mouth. That mouth he let Aaron have and let Flanders have and now he was going to have it too. Little whore that Reid is, he wont mind.

_Still slutting it around then I see._

_You are actually going to let that thing paw at you?_

_It's a risk worth taking is it Babes._

_I might have to hurt you a lot if you carry on._

"You are not here. I will do what I want."

_But with Agent Derek Morgan?_

"Anyone."

Derek was now looking at the mouth muttering and whispering to it self and it make his stomach do undesirable jumps and twists.

"Can't see you coming to my rescue."

_I'm busy_

"What are you doing? - having freaky fun with the locals?"

A quick frown on Morgan's face. Reid wasn't talking to him. He had no clue who he was muttering away to, but that mouth - he had to get away from that mouth. A hand on Spencer's shoulder and he had him turned and facing the wall. One hand Reid could feel was holding onto his hair and another was now on his hip.

………………………..

Now it was Aaron's turn to stand alone not knowing what was going on or what to do with himself. He looked at the bathroom door and he could hear Morgan and Reid's voices.

Something insidious had crawled into their world via Flanders. Something twisting and hurting them and this all had to do with whatever was going one when Reid and Flanders had been taken. He still didn't know what had happened. Phone calls. He needed to make phone calls, but until then he would stand here in his jeans and Tshirt and stare at the closed door.

………………………..

"But I can't – Floyd. They come to me. I'm just like the delivery boy. Except I don't go anywhere."

_Spencer what in hell's name are you playing at?_

"Then how long do you expect to have to wait for your next delivery. One man drops off the next makes the purchase? Am I correct? That's not a mighty amount of money though, not for that, so you once again are not telling me the whole truth."

Ben was backing away again and trying to make his way towards the back of the store. Floyd let him go and followed closely behind.

_Just play with him for a while babes._

_I am busy here._

_  
I will be watching you though._

He followed Ben through the door at the back of the shop. It lead to a small dirty stock room.

Too much going on at the same time –this will be the excuse he will use for what happened next. Trying to talk to Spence, trying to figure out what Spence was doing, trying to keep Morgan on track, keeping Aaron out of the way, working out what Ben was up to and thinking about how long he had to wait so he could have more fun with Sonja.

As he stepped through the door it slammed behind him. The pain across his shoulders was not expected and he let out an animalist howl of rage stumbling forwards a few steps and started turning to see who had just embedded a fire axe in his back.

"What the sodding hell was that for?" He reached back and quickly ripped the axe out of his back. It was good that when he was this enraged he didn't feel so much pain, but still it hurt and the little shit who just dared to do this was going to be in a heap load of trouble. As he looked to see who was there he noticed a very dark skinned muscular chest. A tall dark skinned man stood there looking down at him. Tall we are talking six foot six plus - bald lots of gold rings and necklaces – his head cocked to one side obviously surprised the little guy was still on his bare feet but somehow still smiling with a very pleasant full gold toothed smile.

"Shit."

* * *

_In a separation it is the one who is not really in love who says the more tender things: -__Marcel Proust

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_


	22. Chapter 22 Rental Agreements

Rental Agreements.

_**A/N: Erm…maybe a bit late here…but WARNING light slashy moments. **_

_Axel Blackmar__:- If you and I were to die in a plane crash it wouldn't matter, because our souls would keep on going and we would love each other from place to place - because it is infinity. (Arizona Dream)_

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

"I saw what you made Benny boy do." Such a deep voice.

Floyd wasn't actually afraid but he could see the awkwardness of this situation.

"I didn't make Benny boy do anything." He didn't want to be holding a weapon. That wasn't his way, but he also didn't want to put it down so that the big dude could get hold of it and so for now he kept a tight hold on it.

"You took my money little boy." They big bloke who seemed to have tattoos on his head was walking towards Floyd.

"Er – excuse me? Little boy? I thought you said you were watching." He couldn't help himself. Sometimes words just popped out of his sweet perfectly formed mouth.

"Don't you get smart me with me asshole."

"Wouldn't dream of it, but my dusky skinned friend, I don't have your damned money." Assessing the situation. The best place to attack. Probably not the neck. Hell this bloke was big.

"I saw you take the money offa Benny boy. You a rent boy? You for hire? I fancy a bit of white ass right now."

"Ha ha! Yes that's about amusing as the axe in the back was. You definitely know which buttons to press don't you my little – or not so little in your case Nubian prince."

"I want the money back. Like I want my money back now boy." He guy was getting closer and Floyd was still trying to work out where best to start ripping into this thing and there was the fact that Aaron and Morgan would now probably be shaking their heads wondering what the hell was going on with them, though in Morgan's case it was a bit too late for a quick 'ooops sorry Spence'. Besides Floyd was of the opinion that Reid would only forgive _his _transgressions.

"You need to stop calling me boy and the money is not yours."

"You are a rent boy then if Benny boy paid over cash for sex, what else does that make you? – apart from being a filthy little pervert whore." Floyd could smell the guys breath now - minty – and could feel the heat of the blokes breath on the top of his head. But now all clever calculating thoughts had left Floyd's head and it was at times like this Floyd was most dangerous – to himself as much as to others.

"What did you call me?" He talked between his sharp teeth to the unfortunate about to become breakfast, lunch, and supper.

A finger now on Floyd's chest pushing him back – he looked down at it as it pushed him back in time to the words coming from the man's mouth. "I called you a filthy little pervert whore."

They were the last words he ever said. Well the last coherent ones anyway. It was a groin attack - it had to be. It was the best. Not that Floyd enjoyed ripping off genitalia with his teeth, but it just seemed apt and sometimes the novelty of the situation over-rides the reflex to avoid something at all costs. This was one of those times. Floyd was lost to everything. Nothing mattered except to tear this man apart. Completely lost to it. The smells and the feel. The taste on his lips and the feel of the torn flesh beneath his fingers. He used the axe. Not something he did usually but this bastard deserved it. Floyd removed the head and placed it on a shelf. He ripped of the skin and redressed him with his skin on inside out.

A shame – no needles or cord, he could have made a crude doll here – it would have been so relaxing, but he had Sonja to go back to later, he could do something fun with her.

………………………….

Reid's head was smacked against the bathroom wall until he stopped struggling and talking to himself. Morgan was enjoying this. He was enjoying hurting Reid and feeling him squirm under his hands. Feeling Reid jerk in time with the pounding he was getting. It was wonderful. It was the best he had ever had.

He suddenly felt dizzy – he felt drugged. Stepping back from Reid and watching him slide to the floor caused his stomach to heave.

"What in hell's name was I doing?"

He managed to turn to the toilet just in time to throw up.

"Oh god oh hell oh no what have I done?" On his knees pulling clothing back where it should be and throwing a towel over Reid. Morgan's hands were shaking. He couldn't move. All he could do was kneel on the floor and know he had done to Reid the most vile thing anyone one could do to any body – and Reid was a friend. He was meant to be protecting him.

…………………………..

For a second there Aaron thought he was going to faint. He put a hand out to stop himself from falling. Aaron also felt sick and light headed and headachy and he too had a shocking sudden realisation that what he had done and what he knew Morgan was wrong. It was so wrong that Aaron thought he was going to be sick again. As he felt the acid rise into his mouth he took a few quick steps to the potted plant standing at the top of the stairs and gave it a watering.

"Sorry." He muttered to it. He knew plants liked to be talked to. He wasn't sure how they would react to being barfed on. He looked up as the bathroom door opened and Derek stumbled out looking not to happy.

"Morgan? What's happened?" Trying to look beyond Derek and into the bathroom.

"You tell me Hotch. I have no idea what in hell's name is going on here. But that wasn't me! I swear it wasn't." He pushed Hotch out of the way and still stumbling made his way down the stairs.

Aaron looked in the bathroom and saw a huddle on the floor over between the shower unit and the toilet. The huddle had one of Hotch's green towels thrown over it and it was moving. He wanted to go and see if Spencer was alright but something was wrong, very wrong. Something had been messing with their minds. Drugged maybe. The other reason for all of this was so far fetched and illogical that he refused to even consider it.

"Reid?" He crouched down next to the thing on his bathroom floor. "Reid, it's me. It's Aaron. It's alright, I won't hurt you."

…………………….

'Don't listen to him Spencer. He is a liar.'

'They all are liars.'

'Everyone you trust hurts you.'

"I know – Aaron leave me alone. Just – just go away and leave me."

"Spencer, what did he do to you? Talk to me – let me help you." Aaron desperately wanted to put a hand out and touch that wet hair, but his mind was too confused and his hands shaking too much to be able to do more than just concentrate on talking.

"Nothing that hasn't done a million times before. I will recover. You need to just leave me."

Hotch was now even more confused. "Morgan has done this to you before?"

"Morgan? No – that wasn't Morgan. Floyd – that was Floyd."

And now a hand was out and stroking that hair. "It was Morgan – Reid. Floyd isn't here."

"Hotch – I know who that was. It was me he was …."

"Spencer, turn over and look at me. I want to see your eyes. I need to know you are listening and understanding what I am saying to you and I need to hear and understand your answers to my questions. This is very serious Reid, please look at me."

Reid rolled over and kept the towel tightly against himself. He looked everywhere except for at Hotch. He felt fingers under his chin guiding his face in the direction Aaron wanted him to look and so he closed his eyes.

"Spencer." Nothing. "Spencer!" Still nothing. "Reid look at me now."

Reid unable as always unable to disobey opened his big hazel eyes and looked at Hotch. "Aaron."

"Reid, let me help you." The eyes blinked.

"Do you remember that time at the BAU when you guys gave me a birthday party?" His voice was soft and his breath smelt sweet almost like honey.

"Of course I remember." He smiled at Spencer wondering where this was going. "How could I forget?"

Reid nodded. "Then you know how old I am. I am a man Hotch, not a child, not some silly school girl who can't take care of herself. I am a fully grown adult and I really would appreciate you at least treating me like one sometimes. That is the one thing Floyd never does. He never treats me like a child. He might treat me badly but always as an equal."

"An equal doesn't beat you senseless. He is a bully, but that is irrelevant Reid, he is not here. We left him back in the town near to where we found you. He can't get you here."

And those eyes locked onto Hotch's dark ones again and Aaron could feel himself melting away under the gaze of this younger man.

"Aaron."

And the breath that smelt like honey tasted sweet too, but a different sort of sweetness. The sort you needed to take and take or you would die. The sort you couldn't avoid. That sweetness that if you moved your mouth away from it you would cease to be – suddenly the inside of Spencer's mouth became the most important thing in the world. Nothing else mattered. Not his job – not his son – only this here and now. This mouth and those teeth and those lips and the hands Hotch could feel on the back of his head, and the fingers he could feel digging in and pulling and needing as much as he did.

This was all there was.

_When will he learn I don't need to be there?_

"When it's too late."

………………………….

He ate little bits and spat bits out he chewed on for a while. He felt bits under his fingers and he licked the palms of his hands. Not bad considering this was not what he would usually go for on a hunt. As a surprise it was fine. Just fine.

Floyd lay on his back completely lost in him own mind.

He listened to Reid for a little while and bolstered Aaron up a bit and took everything away from Morgan. He wished he could have been there for the fireworks but right now he needed to cradle this corpse and love it for a while. He closed his eyes and dropped a bit of something red into his mouth. He ran his tongue over it and it made him tingle all over. Because of the state he had gotten himself into, because he was thinking of Spence and Aaron and Morgan, because he was trying to heal once again, and because of the over powering smell and tastes he was surrounded with, the sensory overload blocked out the sounds of running booted feet. He didn't hear the voices telling him to lay on his front and put his hands behind his back. He didn't hear the cries of horror from some of the officers, but he heard one thing. Heard it well and clear.

"That's him. That's the one officer. He's the rent boy who took the money."

He stopped immediately what he was doing, dragged out of his reverie by a stupid kid who had seen the cops arriving in town earlier. Floyd opened his eyes and looked up at the officer standing over him pointing a gun at his face.

Now Floyd might be many things, but totally moronic isn't one of them. He could have maybe gotten away from a couple of armed men – assuming they didn't shoot him in the head, but a circle of them, in Kevlar, and with big guns? Na – not a chance in hell. But this was all good, just because they had him, didn't mean they could keep him, and he had all sorts of marks and whatevers on his body. Proof he had been experimented on. (except he had destroyed all the sodding evidence.)

It will be proved his is insane and they would lock him away in some tin pot crap hole he would just walk out of the first night he was there. No problem. Just don't get your brains blasted before Hotch can come to the rescue.

* * *

_I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain: __- __James Baldwin

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_


	23. Chapter 23 Special Places

Special Places

_Sometimes all you can do is walk away, hide your tears, and just pretend you're okay: - Anon_

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

"They can't lock me up. I am already dead."

The lawyer just stared at him. "Pardon."

"I am dead."

"You don't look very dead Mr Franks."

Floyd's eye twitched. "I have a sodding death certificate. I am officially dead. Check it up. Look up on the records. I am dead. Have been for months."

"Well it isn't a get out clause for you to go around killing people and it seems eating bits of them. You admit doing this?"

"I can hardly deny it. They pumped my stomach."

"Mr Franks if you are not willing to defend your actions there is very little I can do to help you."

"But I do defend them. I need to talk to Agent Hotchner."

"No – this isn't federal. They have not been invited into this case Mr Franks."

"I still need to talk to him."

"The option isn't there to have your friends in to chat to. This isn't some party Franks. This is a murder charge plus whatever else you were doing."

"Whatever else?"

"Prostitution is a start. Theft - let us not for get the fact you had parts of that man's liver in your stomach."

A smirk "No let's not forget that."

"So – what now?" He looked down at the flexicuffs on his wrists.

"Well they will be back soon. I suggest you keep your mouth shut and let me do the talking."

Raised eyebrow.

………………………

The three men sat on different chairs trying not to look at each other.

"Reid."

Aaron's voice was quiet and subdued. Reid quickly glanced over at him and then away again.

"Reid you need to contact Flanders."

A shake of the head. "The very last thing I want to do."

"I understand that, but we have to know what has been going on, and you need to ask him to stop it. We cannot carry on like this."

Derek was just sitting staring at his hands. He couldn't believe what he had done. How the hell could he ever forgive himself for that? Why did he even want to? The last thing he would ever want to do would be to hurt Reid. He had been acting like Floyd. As though it was violation by proxy.

"I will kill him. I will find a way – I promise you Reid. I will find a way to kill that son of a bitch."

Reid looked over to Morgan. "Derek it – it's alright. I – I have no real memory of what happened."

"I do kiddo. I remember every last thing. Its etched into me and that bastard will die for this."

Spencer pulled his feet up onto the chair he was sitting on and wrapped his arms tightly around his legs. "Morgan – please – please don't say that."

Aaron now looked at Reid in his full defensive position. He could tell Spencer was feeling exposed and hurt and god only know what else, but still defending Flanders? This he just couldn't comprehend.

"Reid – He has no feelings for you. He is just a monster. He has been manipulating us and playing with us like chess pieces. It will stop. Actually it seems to have stopped for now, but for how long, and when will he do this to us again. I need you to contact him Spencer."

Reid stood up and started to walk towards the door. "I'm going home."

Aaron and Derek just looked at him for a second then both jumped to their feet and spoke at the same time.

"I'll come with you." Aaron.

"There is no way in hell you are going home Reid." Morgan.

"How will you get home?" Aaron.

"You have to stay here. It's not safe out there." Morgan.

"Let me drive you." Aaron

"Reid. Consider it an order. You can't go."

Reid turned and looked at them. He was wearing sweat pants and a hoody – rather he was swamped by them. He slipped his hand into his hoddy pocket and pulled some items out.

"Aaron - your car key – Morgan your wallet – and again Aaron, my door key. Morgan you cannot 'order' me to do anything. Hotch here and Strauss decided between them I was no longer suited to be a member of the Bureau - so sorry – I don't need to follow your orders, and I don't need to sit here listening to you two discuss how you are going to kill Floyd."

Hotch took a step forward. "I didn't – I never said that."

Morgan took a step forward. "You little….. give me my wallet back!"

Another step forward from Aaron. "Spencer…"

"Stop it – just stop. It was one of Floyd's tricks Hotch. It meant nothing. What little of it I can remember. Which is very little." A glance over at Morgan. "I am sorry. I need to go home get changed and to and find Floyd. I can't contact him, Hotch, my head isn't a two radio. It doesn't work like that - unless he wants it to."

Reid opened up Morgan's wallet and removed the cash and then dropped the wallet to the floor.

"Reid – let me come with you. Please."

But Spencer turned a deaf ear on Aaron and turned again leaving the room.

Hotch made to go after him but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Let him go Hotch. It will be easier for us to decide what to do without him here."

A slow nod "I just don't like the thought that he is out there alone. He is sick Morgan – he should be in hospital, not wandering the streets."

………………………

He got in Aaron's car with the full intention of driving home. He wanted the comfort of home smells and his own clothes. He wanted to feel safe again and be in a place he shared with someone he loved but somehow he ended up heading out in the other direction.

The gas station was old with one pump standing outside. The attendant came out and filled the tank. Reid didn't talk. He just said. "Full tank please." And hoped he had enough cash to pay the old guy. He counted out the notes and smiled in a tight lipped way and pulled back out onto the road. He opened the windows and found a radio station playing some Ella and Frank and sat back to relax and enjoy his journey.

He stuck to the back roads, trying to stay away from the busy fume filled highways.

A place to park up and a van selling coffee enticed Spencer to stop. It felt like forever since he had caffeine in his system and so he slid out of the car still in his odd clothes and got a large strong coffee and a donut.

He sat on the grassy bank and blew on the coffee and thought about the last few days, and weeks and the tears came freely and right now he didn't care if anyone could see his pain. He remembered the way Aaron's hand felt him. He remembered Derek smacking his face on the tiled wall then violating him, he remembered the way Floyd picked him up and threw him against the wall. He remembered everything. His mind was not going to let him forget even if he told everyone he had. That was to save them, not himself.

He wiped the snot off his nose with the back of his hand and drank the rest of the coffee. He didn't eat the donut – that he threw into the long grass for the birds to feed off. Spencer didn't think he would ever be able to eat again.

Reid lay back on the grass and looked at the clouds. Eventually they would stop him – he knew that. He had in effect stolen Hotch's car, though he could argue it was borrowed and Morgan's money. He tried quickly to send out a 'hello' to Floyd, but communications had been closed again. Either because Floyd was keeping away, or something had happened – and whichever it was hurt and made the feeling of abandonment and betrayal set harder.

He got up and threw the empty container his coffee had been into a trash bin next to the van he had bought it from and got back into Hotch's SUV. It would be nice to make a bit of headway before they stopped him.

Spencer pulled out into the light traffic and turned his mind back to worrying about what he was going to do now.

'It's going to be alright'

"You don't know that. You are just trying to make this situation feel better."

'No – this situation will always be shit – but things will turn out OK.'

"I can't remember asking your opinion."

'Well you got it anyway.'

"Get out of my head."

'I like it here when that Floyd is away.'

"I'm not listening to you."

'Well stop talking to me and I might shut up.'

Reid didn't respond.

……………………………..

The detective sat the other side of Floyd looking through a chunky file he had in front of him.

"You are quite a man aren't you Floyd." He said with a grin.

"I am. I am quite the man." A returned smile.

"You have a very interesting rap sheet." Tapping the now closed file.

"That – I think you will find, is not me."

"This I think you will find is very much you and some falsified death certificate won't help you out. Actually I think it will make the situation worse. I can add fraud to the list."

Raised eyebrow. "The Feds cremated that bloke you are talking about. It's not me."

The file was picked up and handed to a uniformed officer standing at the door. The detective then turned back to Floyd. "Do you deny any of these recent charges?"

"Extenuating circumstances. I had been tortured and shot and abused and not fed for a few days. I was not thinking straight."

"Do you deny that you tore Mr Orlandes apart with your hands and teeth, that you removed his head with a fire axe, or that you skinned him and ate parts of him?"

"Sorry detective – Mr Orlandes? I need a smoke."

"Do you deny it Floyd?"

Floyd pulled a face. "You know that it's not the whole story. He did attack me first. He did hit me with the axe between my shoulder blades. It was self defence."

"Did you prostitute your self to Ben Baxter?"

Floyd made fists now and started to twist his wrists beneath the flexicuffs. "Is that what he said?" A snarl between his teeth.

"Floyd. You were on remand when you slit your own throat."

"That wasn't me. That person is dead. You don't listen very well do you?"

"This is how it goes Floyd. You escaped. You slid your slimy murdering prostituting ass out of our jail somehow. It won't happen again. You won't get any more chances. Do you understand what I am saying to you Floyd."

"That I am going back. That there will be no trial. That you are a fucking son of a bitch bastard whose throat I would have out before you can fucking blink. Do I understand you correctly?"

"No – Floyd you misunderstood. You will be sent somewhere very special. Somewhere especially for murdering, whoring sons of bitches like you. Where everyone will be like you."

"Oh I doubt they will be like me." A smirk hiding some other kind of feeling down inside. Too much time spent with damned over emotional people was twisting him.

"And we know about your uncanny ability to mess with computer systems and locks so don't start thinking you will just walk your sweet white ass straight out the door again Floyd, because they know all about you. We will let everyone know who their special guest is going to be."

"Uh hu – I need to talk to Agent Aaron Hotchner."

…………………………..

They were standing in the kitchen with Hotch making cheese sandwiches. There was thick black soot up the wall next to him where the toaster had caught fire.

Hotch was attempting to ignore the look on Morgan's face.

"It got stuck."

"Man - Hotch, how you do survive?"

'_I let Floyd cook.'_

Aaron looked down at the bread. "We need to find out where Floyd is. I am going to make some calls about that place they were keeping Reid. It might give

us some clues as to what is going on."

"I'll give Garcia a call. Reid responds well to her. It might be nice to talk to someone he doesn't feel has - erm – let him down."

Aaron nodded. "Good idea. She usually knows how to get around him." Hotch frowned, took a sharp intake of breath and walked over to a cupboard – opening the door roughly and pulling out a first aide box.

"Hotch? You OK there?" Morgan was walking over to where Aaron was standing looking helpless.

"Cut my finger on the bread knife."

* * *

_The only reason you wont let go of what is making you sad is because it was the only thing that made you happy: - __unknown.

* * *

_


	24. Chapter 24 Rooms

Rooms

_To dare to live alone is the rarest courage; since there are many who had rather meet their bitterest enemy in the field, than their own hearts in their closet: - __Charles Caleb Colton_

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

It was getting dark when Reid pulled up outside a small motel. It was a bit run down, it had though a flashing sigh outside saying 'VA AN Y' which he assumed meant it had rooms. He parked up next to the reception. He was tired and he felt grubby and was still in the clothes he had borrowed from Hotch and had no shoes. Tomorrow he would have to stop off somewhere and get some stuff. Just for now. Until he managed to sort something else out.

Firstly though he needed to make sure he couldn't be traced. He reached up behind the dashboard and disconnected the gps.

"I'm sorry guys – I just need to be alone."

He then slipped quickly from the car and walked to the building.

They guy behind the counter in reception put his newspaper down and looked up and the strange sight in front of him. "That your vehicle?" He wanted to know.

Reid just nodded. "I need a room." Reid turned to look at Hotch's car.

"I don't want no thieved vehicles on my property. Get out before I call the cops." A clanking sound and when Reid turned back he was looking down the barrel of a shot gun.

He sighed and took a step back. "OK I understand, but it's not stolen."

The gun waggled at him. "It sure aint yours though is it."

"I'm going. I had – I had no intention of erm – upsetting you." He started to walk backwards out of the small room.

"That's right you junky scum – take your vehicle someplace else. I don't want your sort in my estab-lish-ment!"

……………………………..

For this reason it was late when Spencer pulled up at the next place with rooms. Even more run down and the vacancy notice was flickering with a 'buzz buzz' but it at least had all its letters still. He stopped the car further away and walked quickly across the cracked tarmac parking lot. The reception door made a small 'zub' when he walked in to let the man out back know there was someone there. Reid stood for a while and waited until the man with the suit on came out of the back door and stood looking at Reid. Spencer stood looking back at him. Not the sort of person he would have expected to be working behind the desk at an old run down motel.

"Can I help you?" Well spoken too. This felt very wrong.

"I – I n need a r room." Ah good Spence start stuttering why don't you.

The man gave Reid the once over with his eyes. "Just you?"

"Y Yes and m my car."

"Rates." They guy pointed to the list on the wall. "And from you I think I want cash. Been screwed over too many times by bums like you."

Reid sucked on his bottom lip and pulled out a few notes from his pocket and placed them on the counter.

………………………

The room.

It was almost square and it had almost clean carpet. The walls were off yellow – an attempt to make the place cheery – the bed linen didn't look particularly wholesome. Clean but Reid didn't fancy sleeping between those sheets. The light fitting was a fluorescent tube and the door to the small bathroom was in fact a non door – as in there was no door – just an opening where a door had once been.

The bathroom.

It was a long thin room. It held a shower with a rusting head and mildewed curtain, a washbasin with a dripping tap and a very clean toilet.

Reid went and lay on the top covers of the bed. He flicked on the small side light then got up again with a sigh and turned off the main over head light. He checked the shadows for things – which seemed to be keeping away and returned to the green bed. He lay on his back staring at the ceiling and wondered if he was missed. Had they realised he hadn't gone home? Was Hotch getting annoyed because his car was missing? He gave Floyd a quick mental call but got nothing. He turned onto this side and watched the crack in the lightweight floral curtains and waiting for dawn. His legs curled up tightly to his chest and holding on tightly wishing it was someone else giving him the comfort of security.

…………………………

The room.

It was square with a hard tiled floor. The walls were pale green – an attempt to use a calming colour in a not very calm situation. The single cot had a rolled up mattress at its end. The light fitting was flush to the ceiling and dull. There was stainless steel toilet fixed to the wall. This room had three smooth green walls and one made up of chunky bars.

Floyd threw the pile of bed linen he had been handed onto the floor and turned around as he heard the doors close behind him. It was a strange set up, but it seemed all the cells were much the same. Or so he reckoned from the sideways glances he had given the cells on the way down. There were only four other cells in this section. Each two sets of doors. The first set, the ones nearest the corridor had manual bolts and levers got lock it. The second one was electronic. Floyd now watched with narrowed eyes as they closed the secondary door and then put a simple metal bolt in place – thus preventing Floyd from opening it.

"Bastards. I don't deserve this treatment. It was self defence." He muttered to himself. "I can't live here. I can't live like this. Like some sodding animal. I haven't done anything wrong."

He ripped his mattress apart and then tore up the bed linen and stuffed it down the toilet. He raged and threw himself at the walls and cursed in every language he could curse in and then finally stood just staring out through the bars. He looked across to the cell opposite but it was empty. They place was deathly silent so he stayed standing there and waited until the morning. In the morning he planned on showing these arseholes why they should treat him with more respect.

………………………….

Morgan flipped open his phone. "Hey Babygirl. Any luck?" Pause. "Oh. Well can you have a look where you are parked and see if Hotch's car is there please hun." Another pause. "OK thanks Pen." He closed his phone and turned to Hotch. "Reid's not at his place. Your car's not there."

"Get her back on the phone Morgan. I want my car traced." Morgan fiddled with the phone in his hand.

"Hotch, maybe he just needs to be alone. Have some space from all this crap."

A nod. "I don't need him followed or brought back. I would like to know where he is going in my car."

………………………..

In the morning.

He watched the gap slowly get lighter and fully planned on getting up and having a shower then leaving for the nearest shop that sold something which might fit but just as the birds started to sing he slipped into a sleep which an atomic bomb wouldn't have woken him from.

In the morning.

Derek had slept on the couch again. He was feeling the need to go home and sleep in his own bed for once. They were peeved that Reid had disabled the GPS but obviously he needed space and harassing him was not going to get him coming back to them and saying sorry for acting like a tosser.

Aaron had laid awake most of the night worrying about everything and everyone. He knew he had to go back to work again soon. They had all had time off and now he was needed back with the team. Derek too – he just wished he would add Spencer to the list of team members. He had wanted to try to work something out for him. Have him as a specialist they could go to if they needed – needed to know about peas and chocolate. Aaron smiled to himself. They were forever telling him to be quiet and now that thing which had annoyed them or confused them was gone. Everyone on the team missed it.

In the morning.

Floyd was still standing amongst the mess he had made and was planning a kill. He knew exactly what he was going to do and they would not be able to stop him. He stood waiting bouncing now slightly on his toes in anticipation of the smell and feels and tastes and it was making his mouth water. Floyd was slightly aware that this blood lust of his was increasing and was a tiny bit worried that it was getting just a tad out of control, but – well today was different. Today he was going to show them.

He heard the buzzing as the main doors down the corridor were opened. He listened as multiple footsteps got closer and he smiled at the guards as they stopped outside his cell.

As a group they entered the first part of the door complex. One of them was holding a bag. The others just held grins. Floyd wasn't liking the look of this.

"Get back away from the door." The first man ordered and pulled what looked to be a stun baton from his belt. Floyd looked beyond this man to the one behind him with an industrial sized taser. Well maybe not industrial, but definitely not a poxy zapper like he had been hit with in the past. He frowned at them.

"Get back away from the door." The first guard repeated.

"And if I don't?" Just a question – they didn't have to over react quite like that!

They taser hit him in the chest knocking him back onto his knees, the door buzzed open, and while he was trying to get to back to his feet to carry out his plan the baton swiped him around the head. They then stood back while Floyd moaned on the floor and started to get up again and as he got back to his knees a taser hit to his back floored him again.

Now they moved fast. They muzzled him and then cuffed his hands in front of him. One guard was doing something to the back of the contraction they strapped around his head another was using a welder on the cuffs they attached to his hands. They stood back again and as Floyd started to move they tasered him yet again.

"That should've killed him." One of the guards muttered.

"Sons of bitches whore dogs. You bastards go burn in hell."

So they tasered him yet again and for a short while he just lay there. He was rolled onto his back and a leg iron was welded into place and a chain going from his hands to his leg effectively keeping his hands down.

They left him laying amongst the mess he had made. A passing comment as they left. "We will be back at lunch time to introduce you to the guys you will be living with. Rest now whilst you can."

…………………………..

Lunch time.

Spencer woke up at around mid day. He had slept for much longer than he had thought he ever could. It was the hammering on the door which awoke him and now the voice.

"Hey you in there. Open up. You need to vacate your room."

He rolled off the bed and stumbled over to the door pulling it open and looking at the guy in the suit. "One minute. My keys."

"Yeah well I hope you slept well sir. Have a nice journey. There's a place just down the way where you can get breakfast or lunch and a coffee and the works."

"Oh thank you. I erm I was wondering, I need to find somewhere I c c can get some different clothes."

The man stood and looked at the mess in front of him and frowned. "There is a fairly good thrift store about a mile in that direction. In the village."

Spencer nodded. "Thank you."

…………………………..

"I need to go home and get some stuff Hotch. I have to be in work tomorrow. We both do."

Aaron nodded. "Are you coming back here?"

"I thought I would. There is still a lot of air we need to clear."

Aaron nodded again. "I will get us some lunch."

Derek grinned. "I'll get a take out on the way back. Just stay out of the kitchen Hotch – unless you are making coffee."

…………………………..

He still wasn't properly awake when they picked him up off the cell floor and dragged him down the corridor towards the main exit door and out into the prison proper. They held him up by the back of his prison clothing for the other inmates to get a good look at.

"This gentlemen, is Floyd Flanders Franks. Murderer. Prostitute. Fag. Cannibal. Necrophiliac. He is gagged so he can't bite. He is restrained so he can't attack with his hands. I expect him to still be alive in the morning. He is on remand. Be gentle with him. He is close – very close – to a couple of Feds. Enjoy yourselves boys."

They let go of the back of his clothing and he dropped to his knees, carefully looking around assessing. Working out who the top dog was here. Once he had him – he would have them all.

Piece of piss.

* * *

_Homosexuality in Russia is a crime and the punishment is seven years in __prison__, locked up with the other men. There is a three year waiting list__: - __Yakov Smirnoff

* * *

_


	25. Chapter 25 Messages

Messages

_Death is not the greatest __loss__ in life. The greatest __loss__ is what dies inside us while we live__: - __Norman Cousins _

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

Spencer ordered a coffee and sat by the window looking out at the parking lot. It was a bright day out there but inside himself it was grey and miserable. He had thought that this trip would make him feel free again, but it seemed to just be causing him stress. He had hardly any money left and so would have to sleep in the car and that wasn't a prospect which he really much liked the thought of. Alone in the dark in a car. He couldn't think of many worse situations he could be in. Actually he could but they were not thoughts he was going to permit himself to think about today.

He felt dirty and even though he had slept he was tired, but more of a tiredness of his spirit than one of his body. He drank down to the last dregs in his coffee mug and stood to go. The woman behind the counter gave him a curious look as the unshaven scruffy tramp with no shoes walked out and made his way to a big SUV parked out the front. The two things seem incongruous and so she picked up the phone and made a call to her friend at the local PD.

A trip into the village was a through and through. He had no money left for the luxury of purchasing clothes. These would have to do until he arrived at where he was going. The gas in the tank was slowly getting lower too.

Reid had the windows open and the warm air was blowing on his face. He was not far outside the village when he saw the flash of the police lights behind him and then the 'whoop' of the siren. He slowed down and then pulled over onto the side of the road. He hadn't got as far as he had wished, but it was Hotch's car. He supposed it was only far he returned it. He sat with his hands on the steering wheel awaiting to be told what to do.

"Put your hands out of the window."

So he did.

"Open the door from the outside."

So he did.

"Step out of the vehicle."

And as he did they were on him. He was pushed to the road with an 'umph' but didn't struggle or shout or make demands.

"Hands behind your back."

He felt the cuffs snapping around his wrists and it was now things started to go very wrong for Spencer. A panic of the highest degree suddenly swept through his brain and all words they were saying to him were lost.

"Where are your documents?"

He started to wriggle his hands.

"Where are your documents and where did you get this vehicle?"

He rolled over onto his back.

"Stay still you thieving little shit."

He kicked the police officer in the knee. Even though Reid was barefooted, he had experience of hand to had combat – thanks to Morgan – and he aimed and kicked right and sure. Reid thought he heard the knee make a strange popping sound and the officer who had been asking the questions fell to his knees and howled in pain. He could sense someone about to bend down over him and in a quick movement Spencer didn't know he even knew about he had twisted and kicked the other patrol officer in the head, sending him flying backwards into the middle of the road.

"Cuffs cuffs cuffs." Spencer began to chant. "I need the key." Tears in his eyes he looked back at the first officer he had damaged. He was getting to his feet again so another turn and the heel of his foot met the cop's chin.

Thankfully the roads were empty. This is why he was travelling on them but now he had to just get away. Let Hotch have his car back. The keys he found and then he struggled to unlock the cuffs. Hours playing with things like this when he had nothing to do paid off as finally after what seemed like an eternity he got free.

Both men still out for the count and so Reid grabbed a note pad and pen from one of the breast pockets and a scribed a note for Hotch.

'_Hotch, I'm sorry..' _And he signed it off _'Reid.' _And left it under the wipers on the drivers side.

He thought maybe that there was more he should say. Maybe explain why he just attacked these good men. He was sorry about that, but he couldn't have those things on his wrists ever again.

Spencer looked off to the side of the road and the farm land stretching as far as the eye could see and started to walk.

………………………..

At around the time Hotch was getting a call to tell him his car had been found, Floyd was being dragged back to his cell.

Hotch wanted to know about the driver. They told him.

"It's OK Agent Hotchner, we will get the person who did this."

Hotch wanted to know – "You don't have the person who was driving it?"

And he was told. "He looked like a junky and fought like a wild cat. Took down both cops and got out of the cuffs they had him in. He won't get far."

Aaron just stood and looked at the phone for a while as the knuckles on his hand turned white. "Did he give a name?" He finally asked

"No name given Sir. They didn't get as far as taking details."

"Oh – what about a description, can you tell me what he was wearing as I am hoping it is my friend in which case there is probably a reason why he defended himself."

"Says right here. 'Longish dirty hair – dressed like a tramp – no shoes.' Does that sound like your friend Sir?"

A big sigh.

Whilst Hotch was having the conversation with the Police officer Floyd was thrown back into his cell. They threw a bucket of water over him to wake him up and they smiled.

"How are you feeling now? Not looking quite so sure of yourself now are you?"

Floyd stared back at them. He would get out of these bindings and he would kill them. They had underestimated him. "You can't do this to people. You can't treat me like this."

One of the guards came in the cell with Floyd whilst the other just stood grinning.

He was a big bloke. Not as big as the guy he was here for killing, but big enough and Floyd didn't much like the look on his face. "You a smoker it says in the records. You want cigarettes?"

Floyd did a quick frown considering his options. Attacking was not one of them. He had a feeling his right ankle was broken, and he definitely had broken toes and fingers and so he just looked and said nothing.

"It also states in your records that you prostitute yourself. Well I rather like the look of your sweet white ass boy. I will pay you. In smokes or get you a joint or two. Pretty little English accent you have there - A fag for a fag maybe."

"You can't do this. I will have my lawyers on you so fast you won't know what the fuck has hit you." Hissing at the prison guard through muzzled lips.

"Poor thing." One of the other guards said with a lilt of laughter in his voice. "I thought he was meant to be a genius and he hasn't worked it out yet?"

A peal of laughter hit Floyd's ears and now he really was getting bothered. "Worked out what?" He could feel hands moving over his bruised back and now down to his hips.

A voice whispered in his ear. "You don't exist. No one will come looking for you. You have no rights to a lawyer. You are officially already dead. You have a death certificate and so we can do what we want."

"And you will wish that certificate really was yours." Finished up a muscle bound Hispanic looking guy in standing in the doorway – waiting his turn.

Around the time Floyd was getting raped (yet again – and no he wasn't particularly enjoying it) – Reid was walking barefoot towards some small buildings in the middle of the field. They looked like workers huts, but right now there was no one using them. They were clap board and old, but he still had to put his shoulder to the door to make it open.

The room reminded him horribly of the one he had been kept in my Hankel. He just stood for a while and looked at the room, then walked in and closed the door behind him. He walked around the small room touching little things as he went by them. Talking quietly to himself under his breath. He found matches and he found candles. This would have to do for now. He also picked up a small penknife from a rickety shelf.

Now Spencer sat in the corner of the room and curled up with himself. His feet hurt from walking across the fields. He thought they would have come looking for him by now but this just showed him how unimportant even attacking two police officers was. He wasn't even worth the bother of following. He was nothing.

Reid sat huddled down in the wooden shack and ran his thumb along the still sharp edge of the small knife and listened to the sudden wind and now the rain hammering on the wooden ceiling. He could hear thunder rumbling away in the distance. He had found shelter just in time.

When the door flew open, pushed but the sudden gusts Spencer leapt up and pushed it shut again. He then grabbed a chair and slid it up under the shacks door handle. The glass in the one window rattled and something outside creaked and squeaked, so Spencer lit a candle and watched the flame and wondered how long it would take him to walk to where he was going and what the chances of getting a lift now were and would he be on some sort of wanted list for striking a police officer?

He watched the wax drip down the side of the candle and set it down on the floor next to him. He could feel the wind rushing up through the gaps in the boards on the floor and the door rattled and complained against the chair.

Spencer pulled his hood up and covered up as much of his face as he could and then pushed up the sleeve on his left arm. He sat and watched as some force somewhere took control and the candle now sitting in his right hand dripped clear wax onto his white flesh.

……………………..

By the time Hotch got to his car the wind was howling and the rain was belting down. There was a low rumble of thunder and a long way off a quick crack of lightening.

A bit of paper with smudged ink on it got whipped out from under Hotch's windscreen wiper and flew away with the other rubbish caught up in the wind. All eyes looking down trying not to get the sudden foul wind in their eyes, the bit of paper drifted out of view across the fields Reid had walked through.

…………………..

When Reid was huddled into his corner trying to work out why – Floyd was laying amongst the torn up bedding he had trashed previously and wondered how this was happening. He should have been able to control this better. Everything seemed to be slowly slipping away. His mind wasn't working as fast as it should. He needed time to think and to plan out how to get out of this mess but they permitted him no rest. They didn't let him sleep. Every time it looked like he was going to they woke him up again - with fists or boots or batons.

Not that he needed much sleep – he just needed them to let him heal.

* * *

_There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every __loss__, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time__: - __Malcolm X

* * *

_


	26. Chapter 26 Safe

Safe

_Nobody__: - Some are born to sweet delight; some are born to endless night._

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

As the storm got closer the window rattled harder and the gusts from under the floorboards and around the door increased. The rain began to seep through the broken old roof and drops fell then slipped away through the gaps. Spencer watched in horror as the day became night. The candle he had been holding just seemed to make the situation worse. The flame flickered and made the deepening howling shadows leap and sway. He looked down at the candle and quickly blew it out. The darkness was still not complete and the light from one candle had hardly made a difference to the amount of light, but now the shadows had calmed slightly.

He slowly made his way over to the corner of the room where a small amount of light was still filtering through. At least if he sat in the corner when he knew it was safe, then when night came it would be one less place to worry about.

……………………

He lay on his back his eyes in spiteful slits looking at the men standing over him.

"You want a smoke now. Post coital." A light smoke was placed gently between his lips. Floyd just lay and looked at the people around him. To get his hand to his mouth would involve some movement and right now he was not going to play their game, so he lay and inhaled. Cheap crappy fags but better than nothing right now. He wanted to close his eyes. Not to sleep. He was beyond sleep by now, he wanted to hibernate. To curl up and just close down and heal, but this lot weren't going to let him do that.

"Does it look to you like he's enjoying that a bit too much?" Though how it could have looked enjoyable was beyond Floyd. The muzzle. The sodding thing around the front of his face – though it was a grill of sorts the spaces were just big enough for a smoke and a straw. But enjoying it too much. Doubtful. He bent his legs up close and inhaled again. His lungs were screaming for something proper inside them. This just wasn't going to keep them happy for long.

………………..

He could feel the floor shaking beneath him when the storm really hit. Spencer lay on his side and looked across to the gap under the door and wondered what was out there in the dark slamming its self so hard against it – making the chair creak – making his heart pound. Things were lifted by the wind and thrown at the side of the small shack. He listened to bits cracking and falling against the ever worsening leaky roof. There was no where now where there was not rain coming through to some degree. By luck more than judgment Spencer happened to be in one of the places where least rain came through. He was still getting wet though. He could feel drips falling on the side of his face – so he pulled his hood up tighter around his head. One arm still bare he held out in front of him looking at the burns he had made on it.

It was a good feeling. Spencer liked to feel in control of something occasionally and as everything else seemed to have been ripped away from him then this would have to be it for now. He could feel the rain splashing onto his feet. Again it wasn't unpleasant but just something to remind him that he did exist outside his own mind.

"When did it all start to go so wrong?"

'_The day you met Floyd.'_

"I wasn't talking to you."

'_There's no one else here.'_

"Leave me alone."

He squeezed his eyes shut and closed off the voice nagging at him in his head.

…………………….

He drove home through hail and all else that the sky dropped down on him that day. He thought of Spencer being out there alone as the sky darkened. He half hoped he had found a way to hitch a lift, but these roads were so quiet that it was highly doubtful.

Aaron visualised Reid hunkered down somewhere in the dark and cold. He wanted to be there with him to help him through whatever was going on. They had all been severely messed with by Floyd who now seemed to have disappeared. Did the damage and ran. Like he had done so many times before. Almost like he knows he has gone to far and needed to go reboot his conscience. Well if he had one. Ever. Which Aaron doubted. Which Aaron knew. There was just something binding him to Reid, who declared it was love. Aaron thought of it as a very unhealthy addiction. And he thought of Reid again and the images of his face in the dark and the rain forced him to admit that becoming addicted to Reid was probably not exclusive to Floyd.

…………………….

Floyd who was laying on his side being kicked in the small of his back.

"Did I tell you to close your eyes?"

He snapped them open again.

"You didn't say I shouldn't."

This remark earned him another kick. The advantage he now could see in being who he was and in the position. Precarious as it was right now – was that they were shit scared to get too close to his mouth. They avoided for now kicking him in the head. Low mutterings he had heard told him that they were bothered the muzzle would fall apart if they kicked it too hard. This gave Floyd a tiny gem of an idea, but he needed them to get out of the cell first so he could do it – but then maybe he should do it with them here.

Flanders permitted the kicks to slowly - unbeknownst to them in their blood lust - to push him towards the bars of his cage. Their minds too fixated on what they were doing and what they had done and what they were going to do to this bit of dirt.

He curled up when his head hit the bars and let out a small moan of pain – and a very big internal smirk. He allowed the kicks now to his abdomen to lift him slightly off the floor. He let out satisfying yelps of pain as his head jerked back smacking against the bars.

"Is that the best you can do?" They seemed to be slowing down. He wasn't ready for that yet and so the kicks came harder. Some getting him under the chin which gave a gratifying crunching sound as the back of his head cracked hard on the bars.

They whooped and stomped and laughed.

They had him. The guy who had killed so many. The guy who everyone was so scared of – Oh yes they had him good. They had him big time. He was going to pay for what he had done.

Another jerk back of the head and Floyd heard the rivets pop as he gave them some good 'umphing' sounds to keep them amused. He felt the muzzle loosen and with a shake of the head and a quick swing around one guard was floor bleeding from a ripped artery on his inner thigh. Floyd howled in rage as he swept his way through his home. Arterial spray decorated the walls and screams assailed his ears. Yes he knew he wasn't free and yes he knew his hands were still bound, but as they said – he didn't exist. He could do what he wanted and they couldn't stop him.

…………………………

When something big hit the window and the glass smashed Spencer let out an unholy scream of shock and jumped to his feet. Laying on the floor was something which looked horribly like an arm. A detached arm. An Arm alone. No hand. No shoulder. Just an arm. He had seen some pretty nasty things whilst working for the BAU but never alone, in the dark, during a storm. He stood for a second eyes fixed upon it. He could feel his bladder loosening with the complete fear tearing its way through him.

He looked at his hands and saw he still had hold of the candle and the matches. Quickly he slipped them into his hoody pocket and walked on stiff legs in a stilted 'don't run don't run don't run' fashion to the door.

Something behind him moved. Spinning just in time to see the arm quivering and laying still again, but more things were hitting the side of the small hut and now he was having visions of it falling apart around him and being left just himself and the arm. When he turned back again he saw he had the chair in his hand and now the door was being blasted open.

It was through this door he ran. Out into the dark and into the rain. He ran in an aimless dash across the fields. His hood flew off his head and he could feel things grabbing at his hair and pulling at his legs. He felt things trying to trip him over and stabbing into the bottoms of his feet. He moaned and cried out his tears washing away in the rain.

When it got him by the foot and threw him into the mud he just lay where he fell and closed his eyes and he waited as the rain soaked through the back his clothing and the mud soaked up through the front. His hair plastered its self to his face as he lay still and listened to the things chasing each other across the fields waiting for them to get closer

………………………….

The guard sitting in the security bunker pressed the alarm button when the monitors suddenly went blank.

He stood up with a look of panic on his face when the alarm button didn't work.

He ran to the door but it was sealed shut.

"You thought you could keep me here with your little bolts and crap? You didn't realise who you were dealing with. When you don't exist it doesn't matter what you do. When you are only a dream in your own head then nothing can go wrong because you can change the rules to suit."

_HOTCHNER!_

He called him and he knew he heard but it was Spence he needed and Spence he couldn't reach. Something was blocking it.

He wanted to say sorry.

He wanted to say he loved him.

……………………….

Aaron slammed his foot on the break and screeched to a halt at the side of the road. Floyd's shout seemed to be reverberating through the vehicle. He sat with his hands gripping the wheel until he thought would snap it.

He waited for Floyd to call him again, but all he could hear was the thunder and the cracks of lightening in the wind and the pelting rain.

"If you want me, talk to me. Stop playing games."

But there was nothing else.

"Was that a cry for help Floyd? You need to do better than that after what you put us through."

He pulled out again onto the road and continued his journey home. Slower this time. Ready for Flanders.

……………………….

Derek cooked grilled salmon and stir-fry vegetables. He asked Garcia over too and she supplied the ice cream.

………………………

Reid lay in the mud the rain still falling heavily. The thunder rolling above him and the lightening striking the powerline a small way off causing a power outage because of the sudden boost.

His limbs jerked and his eyes rolled back as the fear transferred it self and made his brain finally gave up and permitted him to seize. At least if he was fitting he wouldn't feel them touching him and crawling on him and licking at him and sliding icy fingers through his hair and making his toes curl up as things slapped at his bare feet and tickled along that strip of bare skin between the bottom of his hoody and the top of his sweat pants.

* * *

_William Blake__:- If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite.

* * *

_


	27. Chapter 27 Smash and Grab

Smash and Grab

_James Ballard__:- After being bombarded endlessly by road safety propaganda, almost a relief to have found myself in an actual accident. (Crash)_

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

He did exactly what they said he wouldn't.

He wasn't sure how his plan had fallen into place so well. Just dumb luck he guessed. Picked the right time on the right day. The day the inmates were ratty and looking for trouble. He just gave them something tangible. Something to hold. Some one to hit. Things to throw.

He flicked camera's on and off and he ate and ripped a pathway for himself out of that damn god forsaken place. Whatever it was. Wherever it was. He had no intention of going back. He had a death certificate to prove that.

Floyd stood at the final door way and listened to the ruckus he had caused. The screams the howls of pain and the howls of enjoyment. He had given these men something good. Something from inside himself.

He gave them uncontrolled rage. He gave them open cell doors and he gave them silent alarms. The rest was up to them. Floyd's only real problem right now was how to get the cuffs and leg thing off. He wouldn't get far like this.

………………………..

The storm was passing now and Hotch was well on his way home. Derek had told him to hurry on up now. Garcia had arrived and dinner was nearly ready. They had work tomorrow. Aaron wouldn't be able to do what he wanted, which was to go searching for Reid. He had to stay with the job he loved. The one he had lost his wife to. However much he needed Spencer, these people needed him more. It was his job. It was his passion.

It was as he was thinking this and watching the lights of the vehicle ahead of him that something happened. The lights break lights flashed on the lorry in front, and then in the darkness Aaron saw that the vehicle was in trouble. He slammed on his brakes for the second time. Watching the lorry fishtail and swing around. He tried to swerve and miss it, but everything happened too quickly. Traction on the road was messed up due to the heavy rain, and Hotch could do nothing but watch as his SUV ploughed head on with the side of the vehicle 'Hayden Milk' Aaron could see written in blue letters on the side of the white tank at the rear of the big refrigerated lorry.

As almost in slow motion Hotch felt the airbag explode into his face. He felt the seat he was strapped into being forced backwards. His head snapped back, he felt his arm snap and something was crushing his feet. Vaguely he could feel warmth trickling down his face and something was in his eyes and now the pain in his chest as things started to speed up again and everything went bright white and then pitch black and there were smells all around him, and no nothing. Deathly silence and thankfully at that point he slipped into that safe dark place we call unconsciousness.

…………………………

Pulled through the mud by his ankles – he was only vaguely aware of what was going on. "Hotch?" But he got no reply. "Floyd?" and again no reply and so he let whoever it was drag him to wherever they were going. He had no strength left to fight anything and again he just needed to sleep. He could feel he was shivering and he could now feel he had bitten down hard on his tongue. Memories shooting through his mind of being dragged through a field by his feet. Half remembered and half were memories of what he had been told.

……………………….

He walked away.

Again he was told this wouldn't happen.

But it did.

And now he walked away from the chaos he had created. He had stuffed into his front pocket of his prison jeans a pistol he had taken from a guard. Well the guard wouldn't be needing it again. Floyd walked out until the building which had been erected in the middle of no where was but a blur on the horizon. It looking like it was burning now. Thick black smoke rose into the sky. They would be here soon. He had to move.

Flanders stood looking around. It looked like it had rained. The heat coming off the ground was humid and uncomfortable. He needed to find somewhere tog get rid of these things he still had welded to him. Getting caught like this in the open was just not an option. A large rock drew his attention.

Crouching on the rock he inspected the ankle lock. The seemed to have simply melted the lock shut with something.

"That's not so bad. We can sort that out."

He pulled out the pistol and looked at it. Not something he would use to harm someone with. No pleasure in it. To impersonal and the only reason you would kill someone was for pleasure. He looked at the pistol wavering in his shaking hands. This experience had taken more out of him than he had thought. Payback had been sweet though.

The first shot ripped though the side of his foot and missed the cuffs completely.

"Shit holy crap and bollox!"

A shout at the clouds.

The next shot exploded onto the metal and pinged it apart sending small shards up into his face and up his arms.

"Fuck!"

Another shout at the clouds, but now the bond between feet and hands was gone and he had freer range of movement. He looked behind him at the thick pall of smoke and hope the shots weren't heard, but it was very doubtful.

Now he sat and looked at the things around his wrists and wondered how the hell he was going to get them off. He pulled off the boot with the bullet hole in it and had a look at the wound in the side of his foot and then looked at his toes. He pulled off the other boot and sat just looking at them for a while. He really wanted he own boots back. That would have to be one of the first things he did. Floyd cocked the weapon and put it between his feet.

"This won't work Floyd. What the hell are you on?"

He was correct. It didn't work. He did manage to gouge a bloody path up his arm though with the wayward round. He took the pistol again and readied it and then between the feet he clenched his teeth and looked away as the trigger pulled.

It did hurt.

It felt like he had shot himself in the hand but the cuffs fell apart. He felt them slide away.

Slowly he turned his head to look at the hands he had up in front of him.

"How in hells name did you manage that?" He looked at the blood dripping from the hole in his hand.

The gun chain and cuffs he now disposed of by sliding them partly under the rock he had been sitting on and partly by covering with dirt and small stones. It occurred to him that maybe he should wipe fingerprints off, but they would come back no found. He wasn't in the system now – he hoped – he was dead.

Boots back on, he started a long journey going east.

………………………

Spencer woke up in the morning warm and in a bed. A quick check told him he was no longer in the sweatpants and hoodym, but in loose fitting pyjamas of some kind.

He slowly opened his eyes and had a look around. He was in a small bedroom. Floral wallpaper and a pink rug on the boards. The tiny window had bars on it, but the window beyond the bars was open – letting in the fresh air. There was a bottle of water on the small cupboard next to the bed, and the room was probably about fourteen foot square. The door was painted a glossy white and the bed linen was pink. A girl's room. There were not pictures on the wall and nothing personal of any nature. Just a spare girly guest room he supposed.

He swung tied legs out of the bed and put his feet on the floor. He tried to think how he got here, but all memories were fuzzy and grey – unlike what he seemed to be wearing which was pink with red love hearts on it. Spencer just stared at his legs. Someone had stripped him down and redressed him in girl's pyjamas. His eyebrow did a small twitch of wonder and then he walked slowly to the window. There wasn't much to see. Farmland stretching on for ever. Everything seemed sodden and waterlogged.

Rubbing at this eyes he tried to think what had happened and why he was here. He knew in his heart that he had felt great fear. He knew he had been running and things in the dark had been chasing him. Apart from that he wasn't really sure. Spencer started to feel over his body for the cuts and lumps he would have collected over the past few days. Whatever had happened in the past few days though was bogged down with confusion. When the behind him swung open he spun to look to see who his rescuers were.

A very tall thin man with long hair tied back in a big yellowish pony tail. A bit of facial hair which wasn't quite a beard but was a lot more than a few days not shaving. Reid put his hand up to his own face. Someone had given him a nice close shave whilst he slept and he wondered what else these people had done for him.

The man standing in the room now with Reid gave him a big gappy grin but it was the man's clothing which Spence was looking at. He blinked and looked again. Turn of the last century woman' clothing. He tried not to react to it. He tried not to stare at the big workmans boots sticking out from under the brown checked floor length dress and he tried not to look a the huge gnarled hands fiddling with the buttons which ran up the front of the man's chest.

"Oh." Was all Reid managed to say.

"Glad to see you's awake now boy."

"Yes – thank you." A confused frown.

"Don't be looking so worried. They wont find ya here." The man walked over to Spencer and put his hand out to shake. "I'm Albert Lepsky."

Reid carefully shook his hand.

"Sp spencer – Dr Spencer Reid."

"Oh I knows who you are Dr Reid." And a smile.

"You know – you know who I am?" Again the confused face.

"You don't remember do you? I didn't think ya would. I told him 'He wont remember shit' – I'm right. You remember ya name though."

A small nod. "I don't remember what?"

The man now walked over to the window. "They'll be looking for you. They will hunt you down."

"What? What I am I meant to have done?"

"Ya killed a cop, boy. You stole a Fed's car then killed a cop."

Spencer felt wobbly. "I k k killed a police officer?"

"Yu hu – all over the news. They's gonna be looking for you. But you'll be alright here." He turned and watched a white faced Spencer sit on the bed. "Kicked him in the face and broke his neck – so they're saying."

"I think I am going to be sick."

Albert moved to the bed and bent down pulling a bowl out. "Figured you might chuck up. You been having fits and stuff. You do that often."

But Reid wasn't listening. He was throwing up all he had eaten in the past week into red bowl sitting on his knees. Tears were roughly rubbed away and as his head started to feel tight and the sounds in the room faded, he felt the bowl being removed and his feet being lifted up onto the bed.

Albert stood and watched. "Damned punk." He left the bowl on the floor by the bed and walked back out of the room. It wasn't locked. Just gently closed. He didn't think this Spencer Reid person would be running off anywhere soon.

…………………………

Somewhere Aaron could hear metal on metal. He could hear voices. He tried to open his eyes but they felt too heavy. A hand on his shoulder.

"Don't try to move sir. You have been in an accident. We need to cut you out. Just stay still. Everything is going to be fine." A gentle female voice.

He licked his lips and tasted blood and breathing was hurting. Aaron could remember driving home in the dark. He could remember the rain and he remembered talking to Morgan on the cell. He needed to contact Morgan.

"M'am………" was all he managed to say though

"Agent Hotchner. Please just relax. We know who you are and we have made phone calls for you. For now just sit back and let us do the worrying and the work."

He could hear the emergency services cutting into his car.

"You don't appear to be bleeding out – Aaron – do you mind me calling you Aaron? We looked in your wallet. Aaron, stay calm we will have you out of here in a jiffy. You are a bit stuck and there are some broken bones. You will be fine."

A hand on his forehead and now a damp cloth wiping across his eyes. "Let me wipe this off for you. You have a cut on your forehead Aaron and the blood has run into your eyes. Your eyes are going to be OK. I know you are probably confused, just relax and let me help you."

He wanted to move his head towards the voice but didn't seem able to move.

"I can't move."

"Sir, please don't worry. You have been in a nasty accident. I expect you have a nasty case of whiplash. You have been wiggling your toes for us. I don't think there is damage to your neck. We will put a brace on it soon Aaron so please don't be alarmed. It's procedure. I am sure you know that."

"Yes. I can't breathe properly."

"Sometimes the seat restraints can cause damage. You will, I expect have nasty bruises across your chest."

And now she had wiped the drying blood out of his eyes he was able to open them and look at the person talking to him. He saw a small slightly dumpy woman of about thirty years old. Her brown hair was scarped back into a pony tail. She had no makeup but didn't really need any. Hotch managed a smile.

"Thank you." – her name badge said Ella. "Thank you Ella."

…………………….

The salmon was ruined. The stir-fry soggy. The ice cream devoured and Hotch wasn't answering his cell. When Hotch's home phone rang Garcia answered it.

"Oh Oh my god. Yes, yes we – yes – on our way. Oh geez – give me the co-ordinates I can punch it in the sat-nav. Oh god…yes thank you."

She put the phone down carefully and turned to look at Morgan.

"Hotch has been in an accident. RTA. Let's go."

……………………

Floyd kept walking. His feet were killing him – well as much as anything could kill him. The boots he had lifted from some dead bloke didn't fit properly and were hurting his broken toes. Eventually he gave up and took them off. He tied the laces together and hung them over his shoulder. A long way off he could hear police sirens but he was off the vast open area which surrounded the prison and was walking now along the river bank and towards the small line of trees. The river was shallow and he stood and looked at the pebbles shining under the coldness. He bent down and rolled up his trouser legs to his knees and stepped down into the icy water. It felt good. He wiggled his toes as much as he could and crouched not minding get his clothing wet now. A handful of cold water firstly brought to his mouth and sipped another handful splashed on his face. Wet fingers through his hair. He walked the width of the river. It reached to his waist in the middle and made his skin feel refreshed. It was cold but temperature changes didn't bother him too much.

He was now in the woods the other side. He kept walking basically north easterly.

Towards home.

………………………

When Reid woke up next time there was a sandwich sitting with the water and a note _'Just come down when you feel up to it. No hurry. Alb.'

* * *

__May the wind always be on your back and the sun upon your face and may the winds of destiny carry you aloft to dance with the stars: - __Johnny Depp__

* * *

_


	28. Chapter 28 Healing Wounds

Healing Wounds.

_I have more memories than if I were a thousand years old: - __Charles Baudelaire _

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

Reid looked at the food but didn't eat it. He didn't touch it. It looked like a cheese sandwich but his stomach was not going to be accepting food for a while yet he didn't think.

Different clothes to wear would be nice. His own clothes would be magnificent but that wasn't going to happen. Right now it didn't feel like it would ever happen again but what he had on was unacceptable even in his confused mind.

He looked at the note again and at the sloping handwriting. It looked honest. Nothing to worry about there and so he quietly walked to the white painted door and turned the handle.

He was faced looking at a set of steep stairs going downwards with another door at the bottom. For a while he just stood and looked, wrapping his arms around his chest for comfort. Protecting him from he unknown, though this Alb didn't seem harmful or unkind, just a tad odd. The steps creaked slightly as he walked carefully to the bottom of the wooden stairs. The walls were painted a very pale yellow. The door at the bottom was white and glossy. Spencer stood looking at the door handle for a while still convinced it was a trick and that the door would be locked. He gave a quick glance around to see if he could pick up hidden cameras watching his confusion, but there were either non, or they were well hidden and so he put his fingers lightly on the brass door handle and gently twisted. The door opened easily towards him and he now looked out onto a small passageway with a couple of doors on each side. Everything was painted the same pale yellow. The floor was polished wood and the over head lights had cheap paper shades over them.

Spencer walked to the end of the passage running his fingers along the walls as he went. The next flight of stairs led down to a brightly lit hallway.

"Hello?" He called down the stairs. He felt foolish walking around dressed like this and didn't really want anyone but Alb to see him. As so far as he knew Alb was the only one who had seen this strange get up he was in.

"Oh heya."

The voice behind him made him jump. Albert was standing there in the same get up Reid had seen him in earlier.

"You feeling better boy? You don't look too good."

Reid swallowed. "It hasn't been the best week." He tried to smile.

"Spose you will be wanting something else to wear. Come with me." Albert turned around and walked very quietly for someone in such big boots to one of he doors.

Spencer followed, afraid of what he might be walking into. It turned out to be what looked like a spare room. It was not tidy and empty like the one he had been sleeping in. This one was crammed full of packing boxes.

"Clothes – take your pick." He indicated to a pile of things over in the corner. "I'll go brew up some coffee. You feel up to that?"

Spencer turned and nodded. "Yes thank you, that'll be nice."

"Great, I'll leave you to get changed. I put ya other stuff in the wash, but it's a bit torn up."

Reid smiled at him a tight smile. A nervous smile but still a smile. "Thank you."

For most people this would have been the clothing pile from hell, but it amused Spencer. They all seemed second hand and well worn, but nothing modern. He found some dark trousers which seemed long enough for him and so quickly swapped over the bottom half of his clothes. It wasn't until he removed the girly bottoms that he realised he had on a pair of plain white boxers. Not his, so he frowned, but limited choises. Trousers on he now rummaged for a shirt. The one he chose was collarless and white. Maybe slightly too big but he didn't mind. It had deep cuffs with a small row of buttons. He tucked it in and looked to see if there was anything else.

The suspenders to hold up the trousers he pulled over his shoulders as he smiled. The belt he slipped through the loops on the trousers and he even found some woollen socks and a pair of boots to fit.

He let out a little laugh as he turned and saw his reflection in a mirror behind him. He tucked his hair behind his ears and went out to look for the coffee he could smell.

…………………………

By the time Derek and Pen arrived at the scene they were about to get Hotch out. A flash of badges got them close enough to see what was happening and Morgan was able to get some quick questions answered.

"The driver of the milk lorry it seem had a heart attack at the wheel. He was dead before we arrived. Agent Hotchner is a very lucky man – by all rights that accident should have killed him. Someone was looking after him tonight." They were told by a young medic. "He has cuts and bruises and some broken bones but apart from that he will be fine."

Morgan walked over to the car which didn't look much like a car anymore. A medic was half in what was left of the vehicle with him talking softly to him.

"Your friends are here now Aaron. Derek and Pen. They are here now. I will let them talk to you for a while. They will be pleased to see you are alright." She squeezed his good hand gently and clambered down. She locked eyes with Derek.

"You are Morgan?"

He nodded.

"He is in a lot of pain and is obviously distressed. Try to keep him calm. He keeps asking about Spencer, I don't know who Spencer is so I can't answer his question. Maybe you can help." She stepped back but kept close enough to leap back in and protect the handsome man broken and in pain in the wreck of his car. Garcia came and stood next to her.

"He is going to be alright?"

"Yes – I think so."

………………………..

There was a small clearing at the edge of the river. Floyd stood and looked at the clouds for a while and then lay on his stomach on the grass with his head over the edge of the river bank – he ran the cool water through his fingers. Memories long gone and faded trickled their way across his memory. He ran one of his fingers over a dark pebble and sighed as the dried blood slowly washed off the bullet wound.

Floyd pulled away from the water and lay on the grass under the ancient trees. For a short while he watched the clouds and then he rolled onto his side and closed his eyes. The desperate need to get some strength back engulfed him, as thoughts from the long gone past filled his head.

………………………

Hotch watched Ella pull away and then he heard Morgan's voice.

"Hey Hotch, you OK man?" Stupid question under the circumstances and he gave Morgan a sideways glance in response.

"Find Spencer." He reached out and touched Morgan's arm. "I need you to find him Morgan. Please…."

Derek moved his hand to gently touch Hotch's hand. "We need to get you to hospital first Hotch. Then I will see what Reid is up to."

Hotch wanted to say more but the grey haze of pain stopped him. He just needed Reid found – where had he gone and where was he heading in this car? His stomach suddenly twisted uncomfortably as he thought of Reid being crushed in the car and not himself. He thanked whoever it was out there that he had been the one and then instantly wished in a way that it had been. At least then they would know where he was.

…………………………..

He followed his little nose and found the source of the coffee smell in not time. Albert was sitting at a big scrubbed kitchen table smoking on something foul looking. Spencer smiled and walked in.

"Thank you." He looked at Alb giving him a once over and then he walked to the table and pulled out a wheel backed pine chair.

Alb got up and poured Reid a coffee. "Sugar?"

"Six please." Random number, but it sounded right. "So do you live here alone Albert?" He watched the sugar going into the mug.

"No. Goodness no. I wouldn't invite a stranger into my home, however sick or wanted he was if I was on me own."

"Sick and wanted?" He started to feel uncomfortable and twisted his hands in his lap.

Alb passed the mug to Reid with a spoon still sitting in it. Spencer took the end of the spoon and started stirring.

"Aye, sick. You keep having fits and talking to your self. Then there's the cop you killed. So yeah…sick and wanted. Anyways, theres three of us here. They're out right now. But they met you yesterday. I don't think you remember too much about yesterday though. Drink up, caffeine is good for the brain."

"Oh – so who are the other two then?"

"My sisters."

"Oh." Sipping at the sweet drink.

…………………….

Floyd saw the feet standing next to his face before he heard anything. Black boots. He knew those boots. From somewhere deep down inside he remembered them. He rolled over onto his back and looked up at the face looking down at him.

"Anthony?" And the face from the past came closer as the tousled haired young man with big deep dark eyes knelt on the grass next to Floyd.

"Why?" The face suddenly looked sad and hurt. "Why did you do that?"

"Anthony." Floyd reached out a hand to touch his face. He could feel the soft pale skin under his fingers and he could see the wetness around his eyes. "You know I had no choice."

And now he could feel Anthony's fingers brushing against his skin. "There are always choices Floyd. You could have just walked away."

Floyd ran his fingers through the young man's hair and laced fingers behind his head pulling him in closer. "I couldn't – I would have been drawn back again."

"I loved you."

"I know you did." Floyd could feel hot lips brushing against his own and he could feel the weight of Anthony as he lay on top of him touching his face and kissing at his nose and chin and cheeks. He could feel hot sad tears falling from the eyes of the young man and dropping onto his own. Floyd squeezed his eyes tight. "Please don't do this. Leave me."

"Then you know what you have to do Floyd. It's the cycle. You have reached that point again. Go find him and finish it." The voice was sounding petulant.

Flanders pushed Anthony off him and rolled over onto his side. He could still feel the tears which had dropped onto his skin. "I can't. I can't do it."

When he opened his eyes the beautiful young man hand gone. Floyd could feel the tightness in his chest as his breathing hitched and he wiped the wetness off his face.

"I won't do it." He muttered to himself.

* * *

_Time is not a great healer. It is an indifferent and perfunctory one. Sometimes it does not heal at all. And sometimes when it seems to, no __healing__ has been necessary__: - __Ivy Compton-Burnett

* * *

_


	29. Chapter 29 The Wood Pile

The Wood Pile

_True love is like __ghosts__, which everybody talks about and few have seen__: - __François de la Rochefoucauld _

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

Derek went with Aaron in the back of the ambulance.

"Please Morgan – find Reid." A tight hand on Derek wrist.

"Hotch I am going to make sure you are alight first. I don't know where to start looking for Reid."

Hotch still wouldn't let go of Morgan. "Find him. It's an order Morgan. He attacked two police officers. I cant have them finding him first. Leave me. You go and find him. I am going to be alright. Just a few cuts and some broken bones. If you need to keep in touch Garcia can come with me. I need to know you are out there finding out what is going on with Sp – with Reid and if they have found him. It's important Morgan. I need to know Floyd hasn't got him again."

It was these final words which made Derek nod to Aaron. "I will go and see if I can find anything out. I'll let you know as soon as."

………………………….

Floyd kept walking north east. He could still feel the naggings of Anthony in the back of his mind and occasionally caught glimpses of him through the trees. He felt hot and annoyed that these things were pulling him so hard. This shouldn't be happening; he knew this wasn't the same as what happened then. Spencer wasn't Anthony and so different rules applied.

He stood looking down at the river. "Damn you Anthony." He could see his reflection in the water and see the sad dark eyes of an old love looking up at him. "This isn't the same."

"But I loved you."

"Well maybe you did. I never loved you though. That is where the difference lays." Floyd bent down and stirred up the water making the face ripple and disappear.

"Liar."

But the voice was fading now and as Floyd wiped wet fingers over his face he looked back over his shoulder and whispered. "Yes." He got up and took in a deep breath of air and stood for a short while with his eyes closed and then changed direction and started to walk into the woodland at the riverside.

……………………….

"Can you use an axe?"

Reid did an involuntary twitch. "Excuse me?"

"Well I was thinking, you know, as we are hiding you from the cops and all – maybe you can chop some wood."

He could feel his hands were shaking slightly. "Well I've never actually chopped wood but if you show me how – yes."

"Yes?"

"Oh yes Albert, I will chop wood for you." He hoped Alby couldn't see the hairs standing up on the back of his hands.

"Oh – in that case you might need this." Alby smacked something down on the table and this time he saw Reid flinch. Albert nodded and slid the item over to Reid. "Fingerless mitten things. Good quality leather. They will protect you from blisters. I don't think your hands are much used to hard labour are they Dr Reid?"

Spencer picked them up and turned them over in his hands. Again the items seemed old. He lifted them to his face and inhaled a strong smell of oil and sweat. Any leathery smell had long been covered over by man scent.

"Thank you." He slipped them on over his hands to test for size and then carried on sipping at his coffee.

"You want something to eat?"

Suddenly Reid felt very uncomfortable with this strange man, in this strange house. "Oh no thank you."

"You need to keep your strength up you know." Staring at Reid's hands.

Spencer put the mug down and returned his hands to his lap. "I know. I just don't feel hungry."

"Fine. Come here." Alby got up and walked over to a small door which would have led to an area under the stairs. He pulled the door open and tugged on a string just inside the door. "Over here."

Very cautiously Spencer got up and walked over towards the door. He stood slightly back from Albert not wanting to present his back to him and get pushed down the wooden steps he could just about see descending into darkness. "What – what's down there?"

"Old boxes and stuff. Nothing important."

"And why are you showing me?" Again the hackles were raised and the feeling of nausea came back as the fear filled him.

"The cops will come here. They will come looking for you and I will lie my ass of for you. You will hide down there. I don't wanna get caught with no criminal on my land nor in my house. So you see cars coming or hear cars or anything – then you go down there and you stay quiet."

Reid nodded. "I understand, but I think it would be better for me to just go with the police Albert. I don't want to get you into trouble."

"Naaa nor will you get me into trouble. Not if you do what I tells you. Understood?"

He thought he did. "Yes – yes I understand."

"Anyone – I don't want anyone seeing you here. Not no one."

"OK." Raised eyebrow.

"They will take my lands and throw me in the slammer. Harbouring a wanted felon. Then what will happen to my sisters?"

Reid rubbed at his nose and took a step closer. "Fine. I understand, if anyone shows up I will hide."

A firm slap on the back. "Good lad. Let me show you the log pile."

Spencer chewed on his bottom lip and followed Albert out of the back door where he just stood and stared. "That is the wood pile?"

He had been expecting a good sized pile put this was some kind of joke. The pile was about ten foot in height on about a twenty foot square base.

"Yup, that'll be her." Alby was grinning.

"What do you need all that chopped for?" Reid was still trying to take in the size of the pile.

"We sell it. The girls used to chop it, but they doing other stuff right now, so really you came along at the right time. The axe is in the block. I'll show you a couple to get ya's started."

Reid followed Albert and watched as he hefted an enormous axe out of a block. "You place it here." he put a log on the block. "and you swing like this and smack it like that." Spencer looked at the two halves. "Then you pick them up and chuck them on the back of the truck there. When the back of the truck is full come get me."

"When it is full?" Incredulous look at Albert – there was no way he could do this!

Albert smiled. "No point in taking half a load to sell. I need a whole load." He handed the axe to Reid and walked back through the kitchen door. Spencer turned and watched him go. He wanted to say something but wasn't sure where to start – but something along the lines of 'You are insane!' crossed his mind. He did however keep the thoughts to himself. Maybe when the sisters got home things would change.

Maybe not.

He started chopping wood.

…………………………

Morgan was now talking to the officers who were in charge of the hunt for Reid. They had no idea where he was or which direction he had gone in. Both officers were out for the count by the time Reid legged it.

Derek was privately very proud of his boy. He had taken out two armed police officers with his hands cuffed behind his back 'Way to go Reid.' And a big inward smile.

He stood at the roadside and looked at the fields stretching forever in all directions and tried to think what Reid would have done. Two bruised officers stood by his side.

"So what is your interest in the bum?" One of the officers asked. "Is he a drug dealer or something?"

Morgan looked at the two men. "He is an ex colleague and a good friend." He got funny looks back from both of them. "I spent many an hour at Quantico teaching him hand to hand. Seems I taught him well."

"I could have shot the little sonofabitch. He is lucky I was feeling generous."

Derek shook his head. "I guess he is lucky then." He looked across the fields again. "So if you were going to run, which way would you go?"

Officer bruised chin pointed. "Thata ways. Everything else belongs to those crazy Lepsky's. I wouldn't wanna be on their land at night."

Derek looked around the vast area of Lepsky farm. "Why not?"

"Trigger happy. And now look at the place. Its gone to waste. Those Lepsky's will get the land taken from them if they're not careful. I don't think he's farmed it properly since his folks died and that was five or six years back."

"I see and how did they die?"

"Was natural. Old man Leo had a bad ticker. He died out there in the middle of the fields one evening. Lana – his woman – well she never fully recovered from the shock. She lost her mind and was about eighteen months or so later she passed too. Her heart gave out at bingo. Very sad."

"Survived by?" Derek was taking careful mental note of all of this. The chance that Reid came across someone on this farm was quite high.

"Albert, Leonora and Candice – Lepsky - but I tell you, they are none of them right in the head so let us hope your friend left via the road and not the fields. Not that night, not during that storm. Even if he did nearly take my head off with his foot, still wouldn't want that of him."

…………………..

Garcia stood nervously in the hospital awaiting news of Hotch. She considered calling Prentiss or Rossi and then changed her mind. There was no need for everyone to be here so he called Rossi just to let him know what had happened but all was going to be fine. She then topped up with a drink of hot chocolate and waited.

When she was finally permitted to go and see him she was relieved to see he was sitting up and not looking as squashed and ripped as she thought he would have.

"Hey." She didn't quite know what to say. "How are you feeling?"

"Pretty much like I drove into the side of a milk truck." A small smile – Aaron's face was cut and bruised. He had a dressed wound across his forehead and his right eye was a bit swollen from when the airbag blasted into his face. His broken arm was set in plaster as was his foot. A neck brace was still in place because of the whiplash.

Breathing hurt. The seat restraints had in some ways protected him but had in the process crushed his chest breaking one rib and cracking others.

"Morgan?" Garcia looked at her battered boss.

"He is still looking for Reid sir. Nothing yet. I will let you know as soon as I hear something."

Aaron sighed. He wanted Spencer here. He wanted to see he was safe. His fear was that his mind had snapped and was laying in a ditch somewhere dead or dying. "He has to find him. Before Floyd does."

"There is quite a lot of activity sir." She told him about the prison and how strange things had happened there and the security cameras picked up nothing and how apparently some shortage caused all the cell doors to open and the prisoners were whipped up into a frenzy. "I am looking into it sir, but it says that some of the guards had bits bitten out of them. It was horribly familiar – but I cant find Flanders name on the list of people incarcerated there and if he was there he isn't now."

"Thank you Garcia. Please get hold of Morgan and tell him it is vital he finds Reid before Flanders does."

"I will sir. Is there anything I can get for you?"

"No thank you Garcia. I am good – thank you." If feeling like you had been run over by a steam roller was good.

……………………………..

He stood and looked across the fields. Anthony stood by his side.

"It is time." Anthony put his hand into Floyd's and held tightly.

"I won't do it. This is different."

"Why is it different? Just do to him as you did unto me Floyd. You had no problem when it was my turn."

Floyd turned to look at him and took his other hand in his. "Yes it was a problem. Do you think I enjoy doing that?"

"I know you enjoy it." His voice sounded cold.

Floyd shook his head. "It's like finding the most beautiful flower ever and watching it slowly fade and wither and die because foolishly it has been plucked."

"Then stop picking the flowers Floyd – or go back to what you started all those years ago, and make your own."

"I still can't destroy this one."

"Fine! I will do it for you."

Floyd felt the cold fingers leave his and watched as Anthony walked over the fields.

* * *

_I am in you and you in me, mutual in divine love: -__William Blake

* * *

_


	30. Chapter 30 Kept in the Dark

Kept in the Dark

_Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win__: - __Stephen King _

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

He heard the faint distant sounds of cars getting closer. He leaned the axe against the wood pile and was turning as Albert burst out of the back door.

"Move it. Now and keep quiet. Whatever you hear."

Reid nodded quickly and followed Alby back into the house. Spencer opened the door and looked down into the black hole in front of him. He moved his hand to pull the light switch, but a big gnarled hand slapped his out of the way.

"Don't be stupid. You can't have the light on. They will see it. Now get."

He felt the hand on his shoulder giving him a slight push towards the darkness.

"It's dark! I can't go down there in the dark!" He turned to face Alby. "I think it's just best I hand myself over. They don't have to know you knew anything." He took a step forwards and felt a hand on his chest.

"I said 'get'."

Albert turned out to be pretty strong and as Spencer felt his momentum sending him backwards and as he felt the floor beneath his feet not be there anymore and as he crashed backwards headfirst down the old wooden stairs he realised he had made a serious error in judgement. Again.

It didn't hurt for long. He felt his back make contact with the edge of the steps and he heard a cry of surprise and pain escape his lips, but the pain stopped the instant his head met with a sharp edge a bit further down and he rolled down the remainder of the stairs and lay in a crumpled heap at the bottom.

"Now not a word you." Alby hissed as he reached up and removed the light bulb from its fitting.

………………………

Morgan pulled the SUV up in the muddy driveway of the Lepsky farm. He saw the front door of the big old farm house being opened and a strange thing standing here looking puzzled. The strange thing was a man dressed as someone from Little House on the Prairie. Morgan just looked at the apparition for good couple of minutes doing some silent profiling. Eventually he rubbed his hands over his head and stepped out of the vehicle into the thin layer of filth covering what was once a brick drive.

He walked cautiously over to the – whatever is was in the door way and pulled out his ID. "I am Agent Morgan. I was wondering if you could answer some quick questions?"

"Can I have a look at that please? You can't be too careful who you talks to these days." He put his hand out for the wallet which Morgan handed over. "Not that I would know if this was real or not anyway." Albert looked at the ID then handed it back and offered his hand to shake. "I'm Alby Lepsky. What can I do for you Agent Morgan of the BAU – does that make you a profiler? Come in. I have coffee brewing."

"Thank you."

And so Derek was now sitting on the same chair Reid had been recently drinking from the same mug he had been with his back to the door Spencer was lay silently behind.

"I was wondering if you had seen any strangers around here over the past day or so. Maybe during the storm."

Albert lit up a stinking cigarette and frowned. "Not seen a thing. Strangers? Has this anything to do with that escaped loon who attacked the cops up the way?"

"Are your sisters here?" Morgan evaded the question by asking another.

"Leo and Candy are busy."

"Are they at home? I really need to talk to them too."

"Just said didn't I? They are busy. Not here sorta busy. More and more often they're not here. I have to try to run this damned place alone and people wonder they do. Yes I know they wonder. They think I am crazed, but you try living out here alone, with ya sisters and see if you don't get a might bit twitchy occasionally."

"Do you mind if I have a quick look around?" Derek really didn't like the vibes he was getting from this wild west transvestite sitting in front of him.

"I should say no. Yes I should and demand you return with a warrant, which I know you won't get, but I don't have anything to hide Agent Morgan. Go ahead have a nose around. I'll stay here if that's fine by you. I have potatoes to scrub for dinner."

Morgan got up and left the kitchen to look around the rest of the downstairs of this house. As soon as he had left Albert we on his feet and dashing to a very small annex adjoining the kitchen. There hanging over a washing line was Reid's sweatpants and Tshirt. Albert quickly picked them up and went to the small door under the stairs. He opened it. Threw the clothes down into the darkness and closed and locked the door. Then a dash to the sink and the spuds waiting to be scrubbed.

Derek could find nothing really wrong amongst the weirdness of this place. Old and modern all scrambled up into one confusing pot. There was a television and there was a phone line. When he walked back into the kitchen he saw the man thing at the sink getting potatoes ready for dinner.

"You are expecting your sisters back for dinner?" He asked looking at the pile he was readying.

"I dunno to be honest. Better to have food than not I say. Was there anything else I can do for you?"

Morgan thought of Floyd.

"Yes. You need to be aware that there is a very dangerous man wandering around the area. Five ten shoulder length dark hair. Early thirties. You need to be careful if you see someone like that and contact me immediately."

"I see." Alby took a card from the hand Derek was proffering. "And he has a name? This bad guy?"

"Flanders."

…………………………….

"Anthony – come back." Floyd took a step forwards as the tall young man turned to look at him.

"Why? So you can't try to think of more excuses not to do this?" Anthony took a step towards Floyd.

He put a hand out towards Anthony. "I know what I need to do. I know but it's not the right time."

"He's just over there. It will be quick and painless. Unlike the way you made me suffer." Anthony put his hand into Floyd's and linked fingers.

"You didn't suffer. I was quick."

"Being held under the water with your hands around my throat was not quick Floyd. It hurt. It was agony. It was slow. At least finish this one off quickly."

Floyd pulled his fingers away from Anthony and then he turned his back to the fields. "I need to go home." And again Floyd walked this time away from the fields putting his back to Anthony and Spencer.

…………………………

Hotch stood uncomfortably on crutches. This wasn't going to be the easiest thing he had ever done and Garcia though meaning well was beginning to annoy him with her incessant chatter about nothing.

"Sir."

A sigh as he looked over at Pen.

"Garcia."

"Morgan just called. Still no sign of Reid. He checked out that weird farmhouse but nothing seemed out of place. I would like to go back to the office and see what I can dig up on the family. You know in case."

"Good idea Garcia. If I am needed I will be on the end of my cell or at home. Even if I am not needed I will be there. I need as much information as you can get on the prison incident and on any possible sightings of Reid or of Flanders. Tell Morgan where I am. You are both welcome to come over for a decompile later. This Reid business is not part of the ongoing case Rossi has in had, so just be careful. You need to keep your mind focused on what Rossi wants."

"Sir…"

"Just go Garcia, please. I need them both located, but I don't want you to loose your job in the process. I understand that sometimes no news is good news, I am however curious as to why Flanders would have been incarcerated over there and what he did to get out, if he got out. If there is no record of his arrival there then it is unlikely there will be record of his departure. Garcia, I need footage. We have to find out if that was Flanders and why."

He grimaced as he took a step forward. The pain killers were beginning to wear off and the pressure from using something to help him walk was hurting his chest even more. He took some quick sharp breaths as pain shot through his lungs and down to his abdomen. He could feel tears of pain welling in his eyes. Not a thing he was willing to let the techie see.

"Just go Garcia. Please. Now."

She gave him one more look and nodded – leaving by the elevator.

As soon as she was gone he permitted his weaker side to show. "Nurse! Some help please." As he leaned against the wall with the taste of blood in his mouth again. He could feel beads of sweat popping up on his brow as his breaths became shallower and now the fear that he would never breathe properly again and the fear that he had let Spencer down and the fear that Floyd would get to Reid before Morgan. Now his chest was tight as though someone had wrapped a metal band around it and his breathing was shallow and panicky. The hand on his shoulder made him jump.

"Sir, I think you should go back to your room."

"I – can't – breathe." He was sliding to the floor.

"You are having a panic attack sir. Please try to…………………."

Anything else said was lost to darkness.

……………………………..

Spencer opened an eye and could see nothing. At first he wondered if he had gone blind and then looking up he could see light seeping from under the door at the top of the stairs. He tried to remember what had happened but the sudden realisation that he was somewhere unknown in the dark stopped all rationally thinking.

He was taken back to when he was a small boy laying in the dark listening to his parents arguing. Strange shadows crept across the ceiling as the voices got louder and more hurtful in what was being said. He pulled his head under the covers and squeezed his eyes shut hoping it would go away, wishing for the lights to come on and take this fear of the unknown away from him. The wind howled outside and dust and sand blew against his window scratching at it and bringing back memories of a thousand ghost stories he had read. The words completely understandable, but his emotions unable to cope with the meanings.

He wanted to get out of bed and run to the bathroom but as the need grew so did his fear until he knew again it would be impossible to leave the comfort of his bed and again his mother would have to cover his disgrace for him.

Spencer knew Albert had told him to be quiet. He could remember that much but he could hear nothing now. The house seemed to be in a creaking sleeping restful state, but Reid knew he couldn't move. Not anymore than he could when he was a child and so he curled up and whimpered quietly and hoped soon Alby would come back and turn on the lights and relieve him of this humiliation.

* * *

_The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but the one who causes the darkness: - __Victor Hugo

* * *

_


	31. Chapter 31 New Clothes

New Clothes

_Sadness is always the legacy of the past; __regrets__ are pains of the memory__: - Anon_

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

When the light finally came on it made Spencer jump. He hadn't heard the door at the top open.

"You down there. Get back up here." Alby called down. "They've gone for now."

When a wobbly hurting Spencer got to the top of the stairs a hand was put out to him. Alby saw how Reid flinched away from him and could see where he had smacked the back of his head making his hair sticky and clumped together with blood. He frowned at his guest and indicated the stairs.

"You'll be needing to wash up before we eat. Top of the stairs. Second door. I will get you something else to wear. Give me that stuff I will wash it out for you."

Reid stood just inside the kitchen door wondering what the hell to do. "Do you have my own clothes I can have back please?" Seemed like a reasonable request.

"I chucked them down for you boy. You've been laying on them. I would think they are as soiled as you are now. Take those things off and I will get you something else."

Reid looked towards the stairs and then back at Alby. "I erm – well. Here?"

"Oh a shy one. Fine with me. I will get you something else to wear and leave it by they bathroom door. Suit you better m'lord."

Reid could tell this was going for pretty bad to fairly awful. "I'm – I'm s s sorry. It's just….."

"No need to say sorry. Just get your stinking hide outa my kitchen."

………………………

He stood under water which was a bit too hot and let the blood from the back of his head wash away. Common sense was screaming at Spencer to get out of this house now. To just run and hand himself over. Again what he thought he had control of had slipped through his fingers and someone else was pulling the strings. He soaped vigorously not minding the sting on his back where he had hit it on the steps and quite enjoying the pain in the back of his head. He needed to find a way to just walk away from here and not upset anyone.

Spencer stepped out of the shower and stood in front of the wash basin. There was a small cabinet with a steamed up mirror over it. Not being able to resist he lifted his finger and wrote in mirror writing 'Where are you.' And then wiped it away. Floyd hated it when he wrote on the mirrors. He saw now that he was opening the cabinet and looking inside. A normal mixture of male and female products sat in there. He ran his fingers over the razor and carefully lifted it out. After inspecting the object carefully he replaced it and took out a pack of spare blades. He removed one and put the others back where he had found them.

Now Spencer saw that he was looking at small drops of blood dripping from his arm into the shiny white sink. "Where are you?" He said this time with words, but he wasn't sure if he was talking to someone else or him self. Whoever it was he got no answer.

He ran his arm under the tap and placed a wad of tissue over the small cut. Reid then put the blade in the bin and with a towel wrapped tightly around him he opened the door to get the clean clothing Albert had left.

The clothing was not dissimilar that which he had just removed, but with the possibility it fitted slightly better. There was also something to tie around his neck. He stood and looked at it for a while then wrapped it around hoping that is what it was for and then went back down to the kitchen clutching the dirty clothing.

……………………..

It was a small farm house. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Anthony and looked across the pathway towards it.

"What are you waiting for?"

Floyd turned to look at the pretty face looking at him and shrugged. "The right time I suppose."

"When is it the right time to slaughter a family?"

"Anthony – why are you here? Can you just go and wait somewhere else? Maybe a hundred years into the future?"

"Narky old sod you are sometimes."

"Fuck you Ant. Fuck you!" And Floyd was walking over the path and towards the small house with the boots back on his feet rubbing and pinching and squashing his broken toes.

"Can I help you?" The voice came from a man walking around the side of the building.

Floyd ran fingers through his hair and attempted a smile. "I was wondering if you had a phone I could borrow." That was about the worse excuse he had ever used. "I've been hiking and my - erm – my companion.." pointing over where he had walked from. "Well he's hurt his ankle." And the excuses were getting worse.

The guy who appeared to be about forty just looked Floyd over and walked over to his front door. He opened it and entered the house turning to look at Floyd. He started to close the door but Floyd had done this more times than he had done Spence – and that was quite a lot. His foot in the door way prevented it from shutting.

"I am really sorry – but I have been walking like forever and my feet hurt and my head hurts and I've had enough of this sort of shit to last another life time – so don't slam the sodding door in my face."

"Excuse me. Remove your foot now." And now a gun was poking out of the door too.

Floyd ignored the gun and pushed on the door with his shoulder. "Do you know how many times I have had a gun stuffed in my face? Do you know how many idiots have tried to put a bullet in me? I don't want to disappoint you but you don't scare me. Move back away from the fucking door or I will hurt you." One hand was now wrapped around the barrel of the gun and was twisting it from the face of he man who had gone very pale. "Let go of the sodding gun you sonofabitch!"

He ripped the gun out of the man's hands and threw it onto the path behind him. One hand on the guy's forehead the other on his chest he pushed him back into the small hallway which had a faint smell of furniture polish.

"Foot size." Floyd demanded.

"What?!" The man just stood there looking completely confused.

"Your foot size – what is it?"

"Ten."

"Perfect."

Floyd never knew the name of the guy whose boots he took – but the fit was faultless. The woman who had been in the kitchen never even knew there was a stranger in the house. She died quietly. No fuss. Quickly. He stood and looked at her for a while but had no time for games. He needed get what he wanted and get out of this place.

Upstairs he found some dark jeans and a nice white dress shirt. He found a long dust coat and he stood for a while running fingers slowly over it and smiled and then at the back of the wardrobe a pair of black western style boots – almost as though they had been sitting there waiting for him. They were new and so he didn't put them on – he picked them up and was about to leave the room when he saw the hat on the back of the door. A real smile. A lovely hat. He picked it up and pushed it onto his head.

For once things seemed to be going good. That was until he stepped out of the door and saw the little girl standing there.

"Who the hell are you? And why you got my dads clothes on?"

"Ah shit. Babes you don't remember me do you?" He crouched down and put a hand out to her.

"No I don't. Who the hell are you?"

"Floyd – I am Floyd." He smiled at her as she walked slowly towards him.

………………….

Anthony was waiting for him at the edge of the path. "See that wasn't so bad was it – and you look almost normal again."

"Screw you."

…………………

Garcia sat in her bunker with Morgan at her side. "Right – The Lepsky family. Albert – he is forty-two. He spent some of his adult life in hospital after suffering numerous breakdowns. He has no criminal record except for a few cases of vandalism which seemed to coincide with his – spells – of illness. Very petty things. He is joint owner of the farm with his younger sisters – Leonora – who is thirty-five and Candice who is Thirty. They all completed highschool with average grades and Albert attended agricultural college which he also passed with average grades. Nothing special – nothing outstanding – except – I checked bank records and whilst Albert seems to be keeping to a more or less regular routine with the bank, the sisters withdrew their money and closed the accounts. There is no activity I can find for either women for the past year but there was a lot of cash there, so possibly no reason." A shrug

Derek now had a reason to return to the farm.

………………...

Hotch was laying on a hospital bed once again.

"I need to go."

"Sir." The nurse was taking his temperature. "You collapsed in the corridor, I don't think you are quite ready to leave yet."

"I have to be in work tomorrow – so if you will get me the papers I need to sign so I can leave, this would be good. Thank you, I really cannot be sitting here in a hospital bed doing nothing. I have to get home and I have to be in work tomorrow."

"I appreciate that your work is very important to you Agent Hotchner, but you really need at least one more day laying there doing nothing. You were in a nasty accident."

"I know – I was there. Look, I will get someone to come and stay with me, or I will go and stay with them, but I really cannot afford to waste a day laying here helpless."

The nurse smiled. "It's lovely to know you are there catching the bad guys for us, but they can hold the fort for one more day, I am sure."

"My friend is missing. I need to find him. Just get me the papers I need to sign – please."

"And you are going to hop to the bus stop and go find your friend? You cannot walk, and your arm is in plaster, this is why you had trouble breathing. Sir really you are not fit to leave hospital yet. You need another night. One more night will heal you more than you can imagine. I am sure your friend will be fine for one night."

……………………….

Reid stood in the kitchen and watched Alby. He noted two dirty plates on the table and two empty coffee mugs.

"Your sisters are home?"

Albert turned and looked at the crockery. "Been and gone. They said they will see you in the morning. Sit and eat."

"Oh – really I'm not that hungry." Food was the last thing he wanted right now.

"I cooked this for you and you will damned well eat it you ungrateful boy!"

Reid stood up again. He wasn't going to stay here. He needed to call Morgan or Aaron and get someone to come collect him. He would have to face up to anything he had done.

"I need to use the telephone." He started to back out of the kitchen and make his way to the hall. He was desperately looking around for a phone. "I I n need to let my f f friends know where I am."

"Come back." The voice was cold and hard.

Reid turned and started a quick walk from the room. He needed to find a phone and he needed to find it quickly.

Albert landed on Reid's back pushing him down onto the floor. He landed with a loud 'umph' with the wind knocked out of him. As he tried to get his lungs to pull more air in so he could fight against this mad man on his back he felt fingers in his hair pulling his head back as with his other hand Alby tightened the tie thing Reid had around his neck.

He wanted to yell out for help, but he knew there was no one else there and besides his lungs were still not filling up and now his airway was constricted. Spencer felt his face being rammed into the polished floorboards as the familiar greyness crept around the edges of his vision and black spots slid into view. He tried to crawl forwards as he felt his body weakening. He tried to turn and push Alby off but again his face was pounded into the wooden floor as Alby silenced Spencer.

………………………..

Floyd looked over at Anthony.

"I have to go back."

"Back where?"

"To the house. I have to use the phone."

Anthony laughed. "Use the phone? Floyd what have you been drinking? Who do you want to phone?"

"I need to call Morgan. I have to tell him where Spencer is."

"They will catch you. You will get caught if you return. Don't be a fool all your life."

Floyd started to run back in the direction they had originally come from. "Oh shit." He muttered to himself.

Anthony stood and watched. "It's too late Floyd. You know it's too late."

* * *

_Be with me always--take any form--drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! It is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!: - Wuthering Heights

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	32. Chapter 32 Dreams and Voices

Dreams and Voices.

_Murder is always a mistake - one should never do anything one cannot talk about after dinner__: - __Oscar Wilde_

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

He stood and looked across the fields again. Once again Anthony was at his side and holding his hand.

"You know it's too late."

"No it's not. It's never too late." Floyd squeezed the hand he was holding. "Never too late." And so as the sun began to rise over the farmland Floyd walked in his hat and boots and dust coat to find out what had happened to His Spence.

The place on the surface looked well maintained but under the thin veneer was the stench of disuse and age. He got his polite face ready and knocked on the front door. It wasn't a long wait and he had his foot ready to stuff in the door if the person who answered it tried to close it on him. Strangely though the door didn't open. He heard there was someone there. He could smell someone was there and he could hear the rattling of something being moved around. He leaned in slightly and knocked again.

He felt the slight pressure against his stomach and started to look down with a puzzled look on his face when the rifle's bullet took him in the abdomen and out of his back. For a second he just stood and looked down. He was sure he heard a gasp from somewhere but he didn't know where from; as he dropped to his knees to muttered to himself.

"Oh shit."

Anthony stood over him and looked down. "Hurt does it?"

"Anthony. Find Morgan. Tell him…." The second shot took him in the chest. He stopped talking and fell back onto the dirty porch.

……………………..

That FBI guy had warned him that this Floyd might turn up and now there he was laying dead on boards of his porch. Almost dead – he could see fingers twitching there. Alby slowly removed the gun barrel from the letter box slot and then started to unlock the door – all the time not taking his eye away from the spy hole in the door. He quickly opened the door and moved to the body on his porch. It was making moaning sounds as it lay and twitched in the puddle of blood slowly forming under it. Alby turned the rifle around and with the butt of the big old gun hit this thing in the face. It made its hat come off revealing the long dark hair underneath.

Albert Lepsky was a bit surprised when it didn't stop moving and making noises. "Tough old bitch aint you?" So he hit him again. He heard bone crack and he saw blood trickle out of its ears and from around the eyes. Now it was still. Now it was quiet. But it wasn't dead. He could see the faint lifting of the chest. "Hell you sonofabitch." He rolled him over onto his back and tied his hands together with the end of a coil of rope from the porch and then grabbed Floyd by the hair and started to drag him around the side of the house.

……………………

Morning and Morgan was standing next to his car outside his home about to leave for work and then to get back out to the farm when he heard a voice.

"Morgan?"

He turned to see a youngish man with shoulder length hair and fancy dress clothes on. He assumed they were fancy dress or he was another line of the Lepsky lot.

"Do I know you?" His hand twitched next to his gun.

"No – sorry, I am Anthony. Floyd asked me to come and see you – well to get a message to you and I considered this the easiest way."

Now his hand was resting on his gun. "Floyd?"

"Oh sorry – please accept my apologies. I must have the wrong Agent Derek Morgan." He turned and started to walk away.

Derek took a step forwards. "I know Floyd. What's the message?"

"That Albert Lepsky has Spencer and his life is in mortal danger. You need to go out there and find him Derek." He turned back and looked at Derek again with a half smile on his face.

"Why didn't Floyd come himself?"

"He is indisposed. I am not a delivery boy Derek. If you want to know more you need to get out and talk to Lepsky again."

Morgan ran his free hand through his imaginary hair. "I could do with some proof here Anthony. How does Floyd know this and why is he 'indisposed'?"

"How does Floyd know anything? I am sorry I need to go. Have a good day Derek."

As Anthony started to walk off and around the corner he called back again. "It is not my place really to make suggestions Derek, but I would advise you take back up and maybe Aaron would like to go with you too."

Morgan ran after him, but he had rounded the corner and disappeared into the throngs of people and vehicles on the busier road. Derek stood for a few seconds and then ran back to his car.

……………………

"I need to get out of here today and I need to be able to walk."

"Sir you have a broken ankle. What is it you want me to do about it?"

"Fix me up with some contraption of some kind. I really need to be able to leave today."

Derek could hear Hotch talking to what seemed to be a male nurse. He stood for a short while listening to Hotch's demands to leave the hospital and then walked in the room.

"He needs to leave as soon as possible. He has to be somewhere." Morgan looked over at Hotch who was suited and tied ready to leave. He just couldn't walk until he had sorted something out for his foot.

As the nurse wondered off the try to fix something up for Hotch, Derek told him about the strange visitor he had.

"Morgan I don't have time to be sitting here waiting for them to sort this out. Help me up and grab the crutches for me please. We need to leave now. The longer we leave it the more danger I am letting Reid get into. Yes I am aware he isn't part of the team right now but that doesn't mean I abandon him. It means I need to look for a way to get him back with the team or at least working with us a specialist of some kind……"

A hand on his shoulder stopped his talking. "Here, take them. My car is outside parked where it shouldn't be." He handed Aaron the crutches.

The pain ripped through his chest as he walked slowly and carefully out of his room. He could feel the beads of sweat popping up on his brow again and suddenly the tie around his neck was suffocating. He refused to let another panic attack happen so long deep breaths took him to the elevator. His instinct would be to run down the stairs. Standing in an elevator always seemed to take up too much time just standing doing nothing, but today he had no choice. He could see Derek watching him to see if he could cope.

He was Agent Aaron Hotchner. Of course he could cope!

It was a great relief to be able to take the pressure off his chest and lean on the wall in the big hospital lifts. He tipped his head back and rested it on the shiny metal walls of the car and concentrated on the lights above the doors counting down to ground level. He tried not to look at Morgan who was glancing sideways at him with a worried frown.

"Are you sure you are up to this?" Morgan finally blurted.

"I have to be up to it Morgan. I have no other options."

Morgan nodded. "Then let me at least help you to the car – or you are going to end up back in that bed again and I really would like you to be with me on this."

"And who else?"

"Well here's the thing. We have a case on at the BAU and we should be there. One stray ex FBI agent isn't going to be enough to pull us off the case."

"Flanders is involved. That is enough. He is a Federal case."

"He is dead. We can't use him."

"Ah. Dead yes."

……………………

Alby spent his time cleaning and scrubbing. He washed the mess off his porch and got rid of the drag marks. He dusted and polished and put on the laundry and started up the big log burning stove where he also burnt rubbish – thus keeping everything clean. He put on coffee. He washed and then put away the dirty dishes and poured himself a coffee into the mug Spencer had used. He ran his tongue over the rim of it knowing the young man's lips – cold blue lips – had touched this. He left it half drunk and went out of the back to the log pile.

"This thing just seems to never get any smaller." He said to himself and sighed. He looked at the pathetic amount of logs Reid had chopped. Most of them not good enough to sell but as a batch would be fine. Alby swung that big old axe with frightening accuracy.

……………………

As the breath suddenly caught and his lungs began to fill again he opened his eyes to darkness. Floyd could smell all sorts of strange smells wherever he was. A strong smell of oil and wood and of freshly turned earth. Of decomposition and of Spence. He could smell Spencer. He tried to move, but there was a crushing weight pressing down on his back. He lay on his front hands still restrained behind his back and thought and tried to work out where he was. He was buried.

"You bastard." He wanted to say, but when he opened his mouth dried soil drifted and stuck in his throat. Floyd tried to roll over onto his back, but again whatever it was on his back was pressing down and he could feel it was slowly crushing him. Spencer was close, he could smell the fear and the sweat and the blood. He was so close he could almost taste him, but not close enough. He tried to call out to him, but again his mouth just filled with earth. Floyd knew he could eventually get out of this, but Spence? If he was trapped the same way he was there was no way he would get out.

………………….

He let out a low keening sound. The fear and pain had reached a point where he was paralysed and unable to do anything except make these odd noises. He was laying on his back in darkness. He could feel something pressing down on his chest slowly crushing him, but he knew that the lack of air was going to the killer here. He could sense movement for a short while and he got a waft of the heavy musky smell of Floyd, but he knew Floyd would never do this to him. This wasn't Floyd's doing, but if it had nothing to do with him, why was he here? And why was he not rescuing him. Spencer wanted to open his mouth and just let out a long lasting scream of despair but his breaths were now too shallow and sharp to be able to and once again fear took over and he remembered why he was so terrified of the dark.

He could hear his parents shouting again and he knew if he got out of bed and went to the bathroom his father would see him and he would get shouted at too, and the abuse would get worse for his mother for giving birth to a freak of a child – so he stayed where he was and whimpered and cried himself to sleep.

Dirt drifted down onto his face and went up his nose and now stuck to the dampness around his eyes. He tried to lift his arms but it felt like he had something tied around him pinning his arms to his sides and the more he wriggled to release them the more muck fell on him and so finally he just lay and took small breaths and tried to work out how long he had left. Not long.

* * *

_He was a great patriot, a humanitarian, a loyal friend - provided, of course, that he really is dead: - __Voltaire

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	33. Chapter 33 Lepsky

Lepsky

_In all things it is better to hope than to despair__: - __Johann Wolfgang von Goethe _

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

They stopped at the end of the road and waited for Rossi and Prentiss. The last thing they needed to do now was rush in and get themselves and Reid killed. The whereabouts of Floyd was still unknown to them and for all Morgan, Rossi, or Prentiss cared he could stay where he was. Away from them. Aaron though was concerned. If Reid was in danger and Floyd was not here then something was wrong.

After making sure they each knew what they were doing they took the two SUV's down the old driveway towards the farm house in the distance.

The vehicles pulled up in the driveway where Derek had parked up previously.

Much neck scratching and wriggling later they got out with guns showing in holsters and walked to the door. Derek stopped and looked down at the porch and steps. Something was different. He brushed the boards with his booted toes and frowned.

Rossi stood at his shoulder. "Something wrong?" He looked down at the porch not able to see anything unusual.

"I'm not sure. Just something feels different. Cleaner maybe." Derek's hand twitch near his gun and they carried on walking to the door. Morgan stopped again. "There is something wrong. Can you smell that? Bleach. I can smell bleach."

They all stood and took in the air. There was a definite smell of something. "It's an agricultural cleaning fluid of some kind." Emily told them. "Farms often use this because it's not harmful to the livestock or plants."

Derek ran his hand over his forehead. "Well I couldn't smell it yesterday."

"That's cos I hadn't washed the steps down yesterday." A voice from the side. "Can I help you folks? Agent Morgan – I did say I would let you know if anything turned up."

They all turned to look at the strange man standing at the corner of the house.

"Mr Lepsky, these are Agents." Indicating each in turn. "Rossi, Hotchner and Prentiss and this is the search warrant I really needed when I last saw you."

"I see. So what are you looking for if you don't mind me asking."

Aaron hobbled forwards. "If we can sit down somewhere and talk Mr Lepsky it would be a good start. The other agents need to have a look around your property and if you can find your sisters so we can talk to them too that would save us having to return to talk to them at a later date."

Albert gave Hotch a scowl and walked to his front door. "Help yourself to the land and buildings. Still not sure what you'll looking for though." He opened the door and entered the clean and tidy farm house.

Derek helped Aaron up the steps and into the house. Again everything was clean and tidy. Nothing unusual or out of place. The furniture and floors were shiny and polished and fluff free. Alby took Aaron and Derek into the kitchen and indicated the chairs.

"You look like you been in the wars." Looking at Hotch.

"A minor car accident – nothing exciting."

Albert poured out coffee into mugs this time giving Aaron the one Spencer had used.

"You are looking for Leo and Candy? What have they done?" Albert sat at the table opposite the Agents.

Hotch took the lead. "We aren't sure they have done anything Mr Lepsky. We are curious as to their whereabouts though, so any information you can give will be helpful."

…………………….

Prentiss was looking through the things in the bathroom. She stood where Reid had done previously and opened up the bathroom cabinet. She too ran her eyes over the items inside. A mix of male and female things. Nothing suspicious. As she closed the door with the mirror attached it caught the light from the window and her stomach did a weird twist.

"Rossi! In here." She called to Dave who was across the hallway in a woman's bedroom. (No woman in it though)

He walked quickly to the bathroom and looked at Emily who was staring at the mirror. "Look." Faintly in the half light from the window the words 'where am I' could still be seen. "That is Reid's hand writing. I would know it anywhere."

"You are sure?" Rossi was not looking at the mirror anymore; he was doing a quick search of the bathroom. The waste paper basket under the sink caught his attention. Carefully he went through the contents. A few tissues and at the bottom caught between the weave of the basket was a razor blade. He left it where it was and stepped back.

"We need to get crime scene people in here. Now we know Reid has been here we know Lepsky is withholding something from us."

The sudden gunfire from downstairs made Emily jump and Dave spin pulling his pistol from the holster.

……………………….

"Let me get their diary. They keep appointments listed." Lepsky got up and started to walk out of the kitchen. Morgan and Hotch watched for a minute.

"I'll go." Derek got up and walked out in the direction Alby had gone.

Hotch was looking around the kitchen when he saw Derek walking back into the kitchen backwards closely followed by the good Alby Lepsky with his rifle.

"It's OK man, just put it down, we only want to talk to your sisters." Derek had his hands up palms forward infront of him.

"One move from you Hotchner and I shot this agent of yours. Hands where I can see them. Now! Hands on the table. You Morgan turn around and put your hands on the damned table!"

Aaron put his hands palm down and started to push himself up out of the chair. "Albert, please calm down. We are not here to hurt you, it is your sisters we are interested in."

One of Albert's rounds took Derek in the back, one took Hotch in the shoulder. Alby Lepsky then put the gun barrel in his mouth and took the back of his own head off.

………………………

Spencer lay in the darkness trying to conserve the small amount of air he had. He twisted and wriggled his hands until finally he was able to pull them away from the bindings tying them to his sides. Now he was able to put his hands out and feel around him. He seemed to be laying on branches or something strange. More careful investigation let him realise it was not branches. It was something else. Something far more horrific. It was bones. Some of which still had flesh attached. He had seen lots of dead bodies in his time. He had never been buried alive with one though and the panic ripped through him making him forget how he was meant to be conserving his air and laying still. He wanted to scream but when he opened his mouth nothing happened except it filled with muck from whatever it was above him. He put his hands palms up and pushed at whatever it was crushing down on him. Lengths of wood, but using all the remaining strength he had left there was not even a small movement.

And now he felt the tightness around his brain like someone was crushing his skull and his eyes rolled back as the convolution took hold and took Reid away from the horror and into a dark warm place.

…………………….

He knew Spencer was near. He could smell the fear and the blood and the panic and now he himself was breathing steady deep breaths he was sure he could hear Reid's ragged short scared ones.

Floyd tried to send a little message over to him. Just so he knew he wasn't alone, but communications were closed. Reid wasn't able to receive. Something had gone wrong.

Now he had to try to get out. He tried firstly to pull his hands out of the bindings behind his back. He twisted and pulled and with a final crack of bones he pulled a hand free. "Sonofabitch." Whispered to himself. It made his eyes water. Now all he had to do was dig upwards. His next problem though was that he was laying on his front and now he was able to feel around a bit better with the hand he hadn't just broken he realised that digging straight up would not be possible. He was in a shallow dip in the ground with something heavy piled on top. Therefore he figured he could dig forwards and upwards and still be on his front.

Hopefully.

And so the first fist full of earth was pulled from its place and pushed down to Floyd's side. This was going to take a while and he had no idea how far down this was. His hope was that it was shallow and the object on the top would only be covering the area he was laying in.

His fingers brushed against something. Something he recognised and he smirked on the inside and his fingers met the bones of some one else's fingers. 'So I am not the first to be buried here, you bastard.' And thought of Spencer again and with renewed vigour started pulling the earth away at a slight angle from the bones he had found. 'Don't want my DNA all over those bones. Don't want to be done for murder.' And now his inward screams of laughter as he clawed and crawled forwards and upwards.

……………………….

Rossi ran into the kitchen. Aaron was on the floor moaning softly and holding his shoulder. Derek was slumped over the table a small puddle of blood ozzing it's way over the scrubbed pine.

Alberts brains were all over the small door leading to the cupboard under the stairs.

Aaron was holding his cell phone to his ear giving instructions to the emergency services who were already on their way.

"See to Morgan." Aaron said as he tried to push himself up to sit. The bullet had hit his collar bone and probably broken it and blood ran down his chest making a little puddle on his lap.

Rossi ran to Derek and pulled him down off the table and onto the floor. "Oh man, I am ok. I am ok. What the hell happened?"

Prentiss stood looking at Albert. "Did he tell you where Reid is? He has been here. We found evidence that he has been here."

"Oh man." Derek could feel he was going to pass out. The pain was incredible.

Rossi stayed with Derek and Emily went to Hotch.

"He didn't tell us anything. Rossi, Prentiss tear this place apart. Disassemble the whole building if you need to. I need Reid found. Out buildings. Check those first. He didn't seem to mind us checking the house so I don't think Reid is here. He is on the property somewhere though."

Emily left via the back door and ran by the giant wood pile Reid had been working on and went towards an old shed sitting just behind it.

Rossi stayed with Aaron and Derek until backup arrived.

"Dave. Please leave me. Go with Emily and find Reid. It's an order. Stay with Prentiss. Watch her back. Go."

Rossi slowly stood and walked away from the two injured agents.

He watched Morgan as he crawled over to Hotch and then left at a run after Prentiss.

"Hotch, you going to be alight man. It's your shoulder. He got me there too. I think it was on purpose. To stop us taking him – shit man, where the hell is Spencer? And for that matter where is Floyd?"

Hotch lay back leaning against the wall. It really hadn't been his lucky week and now he could feel panic building up again. He needed to know Spencer was alright. He was imagining him tied up and gagged in some old dark barn somewhere, probably beaten and bleeding and all he could do, the one who was meant to be there to protect him and comfort him – all he could do was sit and bleed in some cross dressing lunatic's kitchen.

He wanted to say something. But he knew nothing he said would even begin to reflect the physical and mental pain he was feeling right now and the had to remain solid and in control for the rest of them. If he failed then the team would follow. So he sat and bit on his bottom lip and prayed to whoever was listening that they would find Spence quickly.

…………………………

Finally, after what seemed an eternity of digging his way out of his own grave he broke though and could see light. Quickly he pulled the earth away from the small opening he hand made and loosened the area around him. It was the first mistake he had made since he knocked on Lepsky's door. He earth moved and with it whatever was pushing down on top of him moved. He felt the ground behind him start to slide and sink downwards. Floyd had a horrible feeling that the whole of whatever it was had begun to slide down into the pit with him.

Something fell across the back off his legs stopping any more forwards movement and so his only option now was to enlarge the hole he had made in front of him and dig his way out like that, but the more he dug the more it caved in on him and then something was pressing down painfully onto his back. As he pushed the earth away with his hand he could feel the ribs in his back snapping and he could taste blood in his mouth – but hey! His hand had escaped. That was a start.

………………………….

Spencer took a few small breaths and lay drooling and twitching –staring up into the dreams in his head.

* * *

_Heathcliff__: - If he loved you with all the power of his soul for a whole lifetime, he couldn't love you as much as I do in a single day.

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	34. Chapter 34 The Hand

The Hand

_Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that in due course they actually become the person they seem__: - __Somerset Maugham_

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

* * *

The shed was empty. There was no light. Emily pulled a flashlight out of her pocket and shone it around the small room. Plain unfinished wooden walls and a leaking roof. It was only about six by twelve. And nowhere to hide anything. Except maybe under the trap door she could see on the floor.

She stepped out for the small building and called back to Rossi. "I have found something."

They stood and looked at the trap door and Rossi nodded. "Cover me." He walked over to the door and grabbed the rope handle. It pulled up easily and a strong earthy smell greeted them both.

Rossi and Prentiss looked at each other. They had no idea what they were going to see when the torches lit up what was under the door and Emily felt a shudder creep up her spine. As one they stepped forwards and shone flashlights down into the hole.

Nothing. It was as empty as the shed. "Someone went to a lot of trouble to do this, but I don't think this has ever been used for anything." It was just a deep earthen pit about ten foot deep and three foot square. Rossi dropped the door closed again as he heard the emergency vehicles arriving. "Keep looking Reid is here somewhere. I just hope we are not too late."

Rossi jogged back to the kitchen to make sure the doors were open for the medics and to double check on his injured comrades who were both sitting pulling painful expressions but breathing and talking quietly to each other about something. They stopped when Dave walked back in and crouched down next to them.

"Medics have arrived. I am going to leave you and see if I can find Reid or any sign that this Flanders person has been here. The CSU have arrived too with the coroner, so we will be able to move Lepsky and see what is behind that door."

Aaron and Derek turned to look at the door. The hairs stood up on the back of Derek's hands as he imagined what might be there and Aaron felt a familiar knot of fear binding his stomach.

Rossi put a hand out and touched Hotch on the knee. "It will be OK. We will find him." He didn't say what he was thinking though.

………………………

The pain Aaron's body was in didn't compare to the pain he was feeling in his soul.

He had let Reid down yet again. All he wanted was to hold him and try to make things better for him. Not that they could ever truly be made better anymore. It was too late things had gone too far and now it looked like it was even too late to say sorry. Hotch looked up at Rossi and for a second he bared his soul to his old friend. Who in response gave Aaron a quick but gentle squeeze on the knee.

"Both of you" He looked at Morgan too. " have been acting in a way I wouldn't expect from an Agent. I am sorry if I am speaking out of term here Aaron, but I am not stupid. You can't let personal feelings and relationships get in the way of your work. This is why your marriage failed Aaron – you were unable to fit in a relationship with your work. Don't let it turn the other way now and let your work fail because of a relationship."

Aaron just looked into the knowing eyes of the older agent. "Dave, it's not like that. I am a mentor. A friend. I feel responsible for him."

Morgan was nodding slowly. "Same here Rossi, I am like a big brother to the kid. I should have been there for him."

Dave looked at Morgan and gave him a half smile. "Just get better and stay away from Flanders."

It was now that the heart to heart stopped as the medics ran in joined by the coroner and the people from the Crime Scene Unit. Rossi stood up. "I will come to the hospital later. I need to stay here and tear this place apart first. I will find him." He left out the last part. The bit that said 'dead or alive'.

……………………..

Emily had walked the perimeter of the building and was back standing by the log pile. She turned to go back inside the house. She wanted to see what was in that cupboard and get the loft space searched. Now back up had arrived in the way of local officers it was going to make it a quicker and easier search. As she turned though something moving out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.

She stood and looked at where she thought movement had come from. But she saw nothing, yet again as she turned she felt a nagging feeling that something was wrong. Emily stood and watched and there is was again. Maybe a small animal moving amongst the logs but she crouched down and looked closer.

She frowned and slowly moved her hand forward. What she touched made her jump back and up.

"Dave! Rossi! I have found – something! Quickly!" She crouched back down again and looked at the fingers sticking out from between the earth and the first layer of logs. As she touched them she let out a yelp as they wrapped around her hand and squeezed. "Oh my god. Rossi!"

Emily at first thought it was Reid's hand she was holding and as the rain started to fall again and she could faintly hear Rossi shouting for help and the rain dripped on the back of her neck she looked closer. It wasn't Reid. The hand was rough even through the dirt and the ripped fingernails she could see the hand was the wrong shape. Not the long artistic fingers she had seen twist as he concentrated or became frustrated over something. She looked up at Dave and blinked as the rain fell harder now onto her face.

"It's not Reid." She said quietly. "But whoever this is, he is still very alive." She squeezed the hand back to let whoever this was that she was there. "It will be OK - we are getting you out of there."

……………………………….

Reid could hear faint voices though he thought it was his imagination. The lack of oxygen effecting his brain. He knew he had had a convulsion and he could taste blood and earth in his mouth and carefully he wiped what he could away from his nose and eyes but his hands were shaking and he was becoming disorientated. A small amount of air was obviously making its way down to him so now he had the happy thought that he was going to slowly get crushed until there was nothing left and he remembered the bones he was laying on and let out a small whimper as he shut his eyes tightly again and attempted to maintain some kind of control over this. They would find him. He had every bit of faith in Aaron. He knew he was out there now looking for him. He knew Floyd would be there and he knew Floyd would know he was here. He just had to be patient and wait.

He could feel the dampness seeping through the ground. It had been reasonably dry but now he was feeling damp across his back. He had visions of the bones underneath him becoming water logged and now the smell was building up. Reid could feel a gagging sensation in the back of his throat as the thought of what was below him tore through his imagination in this pitch blackness. He thought he could feel the bony hands reaching up and touching his hair and running a dead finger tip along his spine and although he was aware somewhere in his subconscious that this was a foolish notion the terror taking over clouded it. He turned his head to the side scraping his face on the wood above him and vomited. When he went to turn back again he realised that whatever it was pressing down on him had shifted. The space his face had just occupied was no longer there. The pressure on his chest had increased and his hands were trapped, one over his chest and the other at his side. Breathing was now only possible in small short gasps and again he tried to calculate how long he had left but the band of tightness engulfed his brain again as he eyes rolled back and his limbs tried to jerk and his back tried to arch as he seized again in the confined space.

………………………..

Floyd felt fingers touch his. For a second the thought maybe he had imagined it, or it was an animal, but the fingers returned and his time he wasn't going to let go. The pressure on his back was increasing and he could feel his skin splitting and the bones in his back grinding against each other. Slowly he tried to move his other hand out to feel the first. Pain in his back and legs now far outweighed the pain of the snapped bones in his hand but he needed whoever that was to know he was here and alive. He had to find Spence.

As his other hand broke surface and was clutched by the person on the other side he felt something rip through his mind. A scream of pain in his head and he tried to take the pain away from whoever it was – from Spencer – who he could feel the life being forced out of him.

………………………..

The local officers worked with Rossi in the torrential rain pulling the logs away and throwing them to the side. The risk was that as they removed them from above the person they knew was there that the pile would slip and bury him deeper or maybe slide and crush anyone else who was there. Emily kept a hand on the one moving slightly under her fingers and she let out a sigh of relief when another hand appeared next to it. She looked at the hand for a while. It looked wrong and broken. It was blood encrusted and covered in dirt and muck. Fingernails bent back and bleeding but as she gently touched it the hand managed to grab her in a vice like grip.

Slowly they managed to move the logs covering his arms. Emily could see the muscles straining as whoever this was attempted to pull himself out from under where he had been buried. She hated this. Saving a stranger when Reid could be somewhere, but maybe this person knew where Reid was. Maybe there were together under there.

When the next load was removed Emily just crouched and looked. Her heart sank as she looked at the face laying in the mud. She wanted to snatch her hands away. "Flanders." She said softly. "Rossi, it is Flanders." She looked up at the man standing with a log in his had. Her thoughts were now that if Alby had managed to do this to Floyd what the hell had he done to Reid and that was closely followed by the fact that Floyd seemed to be able to sniff Spencer out. They had to get him out now. She slid a hand out from the broken grasp and wiped some of the dirt off Floyd's face. Emily had never noticed before how good looking this man was. She had in the past always avoided looking at his face. She didn't want to ever make eye contact with this monster.

"Floyd. Can you hear me?" His hand squeezed hers tighter.

"Agent Emily Prentiss. Leave me. Get Spencer out. The other side. He is under the other side. Please help him. Come back for me later."

* * *

_Nietzsche__ once said : -__To win over certain people to something, it is only necessary to give it a gloss of love of humanity, nobility, gentleness, __self-sacrifice__ -- and there is nothing you cannot get them to swallow.

* * *

_


	35. Chapter 35 Under the Covers

Under the Covers

_If you believe in your dreams, you could be sure that any force, a tornado, a volcano or a typhoon, wouldn't be able to knock you out of love; because love exists on its own: - __Axel Blackmar_

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine. 

Safe under his blanket. Yes it might still be dark but he was safe. Nothing could hurt him here and if he pulled his pillow over his head then the couldn't hear the noises coming from his parents room. The shouting, the accusations flying from on to the other. It confused him. He thought that they loved each other. He saw then holding hands and taking light kisses from each other when they thought he wasn't looking so why did they do this to each other. This terrible shouting.

He knew his mum wasn't well. He knew she didn't go into work anymore, but that didn't give his dad the right to shout. Not if he loved her. Not if he still wanted those tender moments.

So he pulled the pillow tightly down over his head and his ears and felt the weight of the bedding pushing down on his chest cracking his ribs and tearing the skin on the side of his face. He tried to move his head to take some of the weight from above off it, but that meant pressing his face against the bones under him and now the sudden realisation that this comfy little bed of his was slowly filling with water seeping through the roof and earth.

Spencer started to count. He wondered how far he could get before the water reached his face and he drowned, or the roof crushed him. The arm which was laying across his chest was getting crushed. He could feel the bones cracking and the flesh splitting under the force directed down onto him. He had done something to his legs too. They were in agony and now he was scared he would have another convulsion. It would kill him – he knew that.

Water trickling around his ear now. Not just wet earth, or even soggy mud, but proper water.

He stopped counting and decided to go through the alphabet naming a serial killer or psychopath after each letter.

Spencer got stuck on 'A' His brain was going to sleep. He couldn't breath. So he pulled the covers back over his head and tried again to cut out the sounds from around him.

…………………………..

Emily stayed with Flanders. Not that she wanted to. Not that she thought he deserved any form of comfort, but because Spencer loved him. She held his hand and looked at the face that could kill without mercy and without conscience. She looked at the perfect lips on the perfect face. The way they were slightly open and the way his eyes were half closed.

"Floyd."

Again the response was a movement of the fingers. "Emily Prentiss." His voice was low.

"They are getting the logs off. They will get him out." She watched his eyes open wider. "Is there anything I can get for you?"

"A smoke. Someone must have one. Get me a fag Emily."

She pulled her hand out of his. "I will see what I can do."

Before she went on the search for Floyd she walked around to where they were dragging the logs off the pile. The rain was falling harder and colder. Rossi turned to her as he threw another one to the side. "Is he telling the truth? Will we find Reid under here?"

Emily gave a small shrug. "How can we know? The man has no moral compass Rossi. He wouldn't know if he was telling the truth. He wants something to smoke."

Rossi just nodded and carried on pulling the logs off. "Get him one then Prentiss then stay with him. I don't want him running off. I need to talk to him before he does a disappearing act on us again."

She nodded and ran back towards the house.

………………………….

He was pleased. Emily seemed to be doing what he expected. She was even looking for a smoke for him. He doubted his body would really accept something to smoke right now, but that wasn't the point. She was doing what he had asked. That was the point. He smirked on the inside and it hurt.

"Shit." He muttered to himself as Emily crouched down in the rain next to him.

"What's wrong?" Her brow furrowed.

"I think I have a broken back. Give me the smoke Emily. Can you light it for me?"

She was stunned for a second or two then 'this is Floyd' popped into her head again 'he will mend'. With steady hands (Floyd noted) she put the cigarette to her red lips and lit the end with a yellow disposable lighter. She slipped the lighter into her pocket and the cigarette between Floyd's lips. He lifted his broken hand to his mouth and carefully held the smoke whilst he took a deep drag from it. He then removed it and tried a real smile.

"Thank you Emily."

Now for the final act.

"Emily." A voice so low she could hardly hear it.

"Floyd?"

"I do love him you know."

She pressed her lips together and gently stroked his hair as he let his breathing slow to a virtual stop and allowed his heart to go into hibernation. Emily watched the cigarette fall from his fingers and saw his broken hand twitch slightly and then nothing.

Prentiss took his hand. "Floyd?" but this time there was no response. "Oh." She dropped the lifeless hand and stood up. For a minute, maybe two she watched the rain fall on his face. She had the urge to bend down and plant a kiss on the side of his face.

"This is exactly why I never wanted to get too close to you." She turned and walked away not glancing back once.

…………………………..

The ambulance rushed the two agents to the nearest hospital. They had both been very lucky. The person who shot them knew exactly what he was doing. Though why – was a question Hotch didn't know he was going to be able to answer right now.

To stop them finding Reid. He was sure of it. Albert took his own life so they couldn't get the answers from him.

Hotch lay there and the pain in his shoulder was numbed by the pain in his heart. He was confused about where Floyd was. He had never left Reid in this much danger without turning up.

"I need a phone. I have to talk to someone. It's urgent." Aaron looked over at the medic who had put a temporary dressing on his shoulder and stopped the bleeding. "Take me back. Please – I will be fine, I need to go back."

The medic smiled. "I am sorry sir, but we do need to get you to hospital. The wound needs to be seen to properly and stitched." He handed Aaron a phone. "Please be quick we are nearly there."

Hotch punched in the number for Rossi.

"Its Aaron – Dave listen, I need you to be sure that Floyd hasn't been there and taken Reid." A long pause. "Oh god – yes. Stay with him. Even if he looks dead he wont be." A pause again. "Good tell Emily to stay there. I will be back as soon as I can." Another pause. "Dave, get him out."

He stopped the call and returned the phone to the medic.

If he had Floyd like that; what the hell had he done to Reid. He could feel his breathing had changed. Short shallow breaths and now the medic was putting something over his face.

"Aaron – do you mind me calling you Aaron? You need to take deep breaths for me."

Hotch closed his eyes but all he could see were horrific images of victims, but each one now was Reid – and an unbidden a tear slipped from the corner of his eye.

………………………..

Emily suddenly appeared next to Rossi. Her face was tense and she was biting her bottom lip.

"I told you to stay with him – please Prentiss – stay with Flanders."

She looked at the slowly decreasing pile of logs. "I feel I should be helping here. I don't think Flanders is going anywhere. He stopped breathing. There is nothing I can do."

"Emily – stay with him."

She gave a quick nod and stood for a minute watching the logs being removed. "If Reid is under there….."

"Go back to Flanders."

………………………

Anthony sat in the rain and stroked Floyd's face. "You idiot – for someone with a brain like yours you do the most insane things you know. He bent over and kissed Floyd's ear and as Emily walked back over he got up and wondered back towards the fields.

Emily sat on a log next to Floyd and looked down at him. "What is it about you that captivates everyone so easily?" She ran a long red fingernail over the side of his face and her thumb over his slightly parted lips. He was cold. A blue tint was forming around his mouth but his eyes were slightly open. She moved her hand cautiously and ran her hand over his brow and across his eyes closing them for him.

………………………

Reid could taste dirty rain water. He tried to smile to him self. He tried to forgive the person who had done this, he tried to say goodbye to Floyd and Aaron but the only thing he could think of was the day his dad left. How his mother tried to get him to take him too. How his father refused and how his mother didn't want him. He wanted to pull the covers over his face as at last the breathing reached a point where even the short sharp breaths he was taking hurt too much and his brain allowed his lungs to give up when suddenly he could see light. It was just a spot, but it was there. He wanted to scream and cry for help. He wanted to let whoever was there know he was here and he was almost alive. But only almost – Spencer had a feeling they were going to be too late. He tried spitting out the water which was now filling his mouth and creeping up his nose.

He told his lungs to keep trying – just for a little longer. Let them see he tried, that he wasn't weak – that he never gave up – that he struggled until the end and suddenly the weight on his chest felt like it was decreasing. It didn't help too much with the pain, but it helped knowing he wasn't going to be left here like the bones he was laying on. Left here and never mourned or grieved for as water was sucked back down this throat and he tried to cough and spit and stay conscious for just a little longer so he could feel the warmth of a hand on his cold skin again.

………………………

They were taken to the emergency room. Derek was firm on the matter. He could walk. He would walk. It was only when he realised that he legs no longer worked that he permitted them the help him into a wheelchair. Aaron followed slightly behind muttering about not wanting to be stuck in here and to quickly get this sorted so he could get back to where he needed to be.

They removed his jacket and cut away part of his shirt to have a proper look at the bullet wound. "You need to find a safer job Aaron." One of the staff said. "You seem to have been in the wars."

"I am fine. All part of the territory. Just fix me up so I can get back to my men. I am meant to be leading them not resting in a hospital. They need me out there with them…."

"Hotch." Derek' voice from next to him. "As soon as they find something they will let us know. I am worried too. Just relax man, you will have a heart attack and be no use to anyone."

A wince of pain as they cleaned the wound and the stitches started to be put in. "Aaron." The emergency surgeon looked at the white faced agent. "I am going to keep you in over night. Your blood pressure is much too high and you are running a slight temperature. I need to know this isn't going to become infected and I don't want you running back to work as soon as I tie of this last stitch."

Aaron lay back and sighed. "Get me a phone. I need to make a call. Where is my cell?"

"You are not allowed to use a cell phone in the hospital sir. It messes with the vital equipment."

"Get me a phone of some kind please. I need to make a call." He lay and listened to Morgan's moans of pain as they cleaned and stitched him too. Matching scars.

………………………….

Something touched his face. Something warm. It moved and now was holding him under the chin pulling his mouth and nose out of the water. He could feel fingers touching his neck and then pushing hair off his face, but all he could see was blinding white light.

Breath on his face now and he had a feeling someone was talking to him, but he couldn't hear the voice. All he could hear was his father shouting and his mother crying.

Now he could feel the weight leaving his chest and the awful crushing sensation was suddenly gone. Still all he could see was a bright light and all he could hear was a voice shouting at him. A different voice this time. A voice from a long ago memory. Maybe a voice from another life. He listened to it.

'_Remember the rules.'_

'_Keep away from Agent Aaron Hotchner.'_

'_Filth, scum, pervert, freak.'_

And now the voice was his father's voice.

'_Freak child.'_

'_Accident of birth.'_

'_Reject.'_

Then again.

'_You forgot the rules.'_

Something was placed over his mouth and nose. Hands touching his chest and the arm he could no longer feel.

……………………………….

"He's here!" Rossi called out. "Get the medics over here before we lose him."

Emily's head shot up and looked over to where the voice was coming from. They had him and were calling for medics. He was alive. She looked back down to Floyd and again touched his face and lips. "They've got him." She whispered. "Thank god they found him."

The face Rossi could see should have been dead. It had been crushed down into the earth below him. It looked as though his jaw and cheekbone were broken. He had blood around his nose and dripping from his mouth. His right arm was crushed; Rossi could see bone. Both legs had been ground into the mud he was laying on. The medics ran quick knowing hands over his body and made notes. They put something over his nose and mouth to help him breathe but he wasn't responding. He just stared up into nothing.

"He's in shock." Someone said to Dave. Are you coming with him? It would be nice if he had a friend with him.

Rossi ran a hand over his chin and looked over to where Emily was sitting on the log staring at Flanders. "Prentiss – I need you to go to the hospital with Reid. Call Hotch let him know we have him. I'm staying to get Flanders out."

Dave stood back feeling slightly like a spare part as the medics rushed to get Reid out of the hole he had been buried in. He didn't know how long he had been there – but it was irrelevant right now. He couldn't imagine the horror of being buried alive and then slowly crushed to death. He watched as they carefully lifted him from his grave and onto a stretcher. They took him at a run to the awaiting ambulance where he could see Emily running towards. He watched as she held his hand and was leaning forward as she ran. Talking softly to him. Making encouraging sounds.

Rossi then turned to the local officers. "We need to get the other one out now."

Floyd's awareness of what was going on around him had dipped somewhat now he was just trying to heal a bit. He didn't want hospital and blood tests and people poking him around. He had experienced enough of that in the past to last a life time and for Floyd that was a long long time.

Vaguely he could hear Rossi shouting out commands and he could feel fingers running over his face and down to his neck again. He gave them a pulse to feel and then withdrew it for a while. They knew he was alive – that was all they needed. He could feel the weight being lifted off his shoulders but below his mid back he could feel nothing. Not even a small twinge. This was bad news. He was sure this spine had snapped. Not as bad as having his neck broken but not good either. He felt something being put over his mouth and nose and he tried to push it away. At least he was responding to what was going on. Not just staring into nothingness.

Rossi stood back and watched them carefully roll him onto a board and strap his arms to his side. It looked like his legs were broken across the shins.

"Who is going with this one? And does anyone know his name."

Rossi gave a name and looked around him. The local PD and the CSU would have to deal with the mess left behind. They were already in the hole they had found Reid inspecting the bones.

"I'll go with him." Rossi walked over to the awaiting ambulance and climbed up inside. He sat down on the bench on the opposite side and leaned over to talk to Flanders.

"I don't know what happened or how you and Reid ended up like this, but I will find out and if you have anything to do with this I will know and you will pay."

Floyd turned his head to look at the older man and smiled a big toothy smile. "Thank you."

"What are you thanking me for?"

"For being so fucking understanding."

…………………..

Aaron protested.

He threatened them – not in a bad way, but in a – "I will get up and walk to his room if you don't get me a chair and help me here. I need to be with him. He will want me there."

Eventually they gave up and wheeled Hotch to the room Reid was in. They told him he was breathing fine, that there didn't seem to be any extensive internal injuries and that he had multiple cracked and broken ribs. He would be in pain and was on morphine. They told him he was unresponsive.

He sat in the wheelchair and looked at what used to be Dr Spencer Reid and was now not even slightly recognisable. His face was swollen. His jaw had been wired and his cheek repaired. The skin had been clipped .

His arm had looked worse than it was – the bones were broken and plated back together – and the ripped flesh sewn back in place. Yet he still lay staring out at nothing.

Aaron moved forwards grimacing as pain shot through his shoulder and held Spencer's left hand. "I'm here Spence. We found you. I am here for you." Still there was nothing. Hotch squeezed the limp lifeless hand and slowly stood up putting his weight on the bed Reid was laying on. "I want to help you." He sat on the bed and looked down at the empty face. "Spence." and then a sigh.

With immense difficulty he pulled himself onto the bed next to Reid and carefully ran a finger over his bruised face. It was then that Spencer blinked. He moved so he was laying on his side with his back to Aaron and as Hotch put a comforting arm around the younger man he felt him pushing back against him, seeking out the comfort and warmth and Aaron could feel the sobs of pain and distress wracking through his body.

…………………….

"Get your sodding hands off me. I am going to see him. I am going to see him now."

The nurse stood with her hands on her hips and frowned at the belligerent Flanders. "I need to stitch you and put a cast on your arm. You have two broken legs and a crushed spine sir. You are going nowhere."

"Let me see him. Just wheel me up there and let me see him. Why is that so fucking complicated for you to understand?"

"I really don't know what all this fuss is about. Your friend is sleeping. There is no need for you to be there."

"He's not my sodding friend you stupid bleeding tart. He's my partner. Now let me see him. Or I swear I will get off this damned bed and walk up there – broken legs or not."

…………………..

That evening saw the three men in the same bed holding tightly onto each other, each taking comfort from the next, each taking some of the pain away. Spencer had stopped the horrible hitching his breathing was doing and had even managed a smile at Floyd who lay down on the bed facing him. Floyd reached behind Reid and a finger moved slowly over Aaron's face.

"You are lucky Agent Aaron Hotchner."

"How am I lucky Floyd?"

"That my back is kinda broken or I would be round there kicking your arse."

* * *

_Edward D. Wood, Jr.__:- Listen, hit the bars, work some parties, and get me transvestites. I need transvestites. All right. Bye. _

**A/N: I think that's the end of this bit. **

* * *


End file.
